Alexis Argent
by revolutionfanatic
Summary: Alexis Argent is the older sister of Allison McCall and has got herself caught up in the supernatural world of Beacon Hills the minute they step foot into town. She meets the handsome blue-eyed werewolf, Derek Hale, and quickly discovers that her and the brooding werewolf have a connection they just can't explain.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:**

**Hi everyone. Some of you reading this may have read my other story 'Bella McCall' and wondering why I'm starting a new one when I haven't updated that story in so long. Apologies to those that are still waiting on the other story to finish, I'm finding it hard to continue that one but I've slowly been having other ideas and I'd really like to get this story out there. Before you start it, I'll just give a little background into this story.**

**Alexis Argent**

Background Information:

Full Name: Alexis Adeline Argent

Nickname(s): Lexi, Lex

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Height: 160cm

Weight: 70kg

Eye Colour: piercing blue

Hair colour & length: shoulder length, soft brown at the roots and blonde on the ends

Distinguishing marks: large claw marks on her hip and down her thigh and also on shoulder, a large rose tattoo that blends with the scars on her upper thigh

Education: Lexi is in the same year as her younger sister, Allison (sophomore year). She went through a couple of rough years where she had a bad group of friends and went on a failed hunting trip with her Aunt Kate. She was suspended so many times that she had to repeat freshmen year and then got expelled sophomore year. Beacon Hills High School couldn't take her unless she repeated sophomore year again.

Background/History:

\- - Kate looked after Lexi a lot as a young child and was told about werewolves and the Argent's being hunters when she was only 9 years old. Kate started training her at this age.

\- - Lexi had her first boyfriend at 14/15 and discovered that he was a werewolf. She had been hanging around him and a few others that were considered a bad crowd and ended up having to repeat her freshmen year.

\- - Just before she turned 16, Kate took her out on the full moon and Lexi was attacked. She got the scars on her back from that night and watched Kate kill the werewolf (Kate knows the full story, Chris and Victoria know what Kate told them and Allison thinks she was attacked by an ordinary wolf)

\- - After this attack, Lexi's grades took a hit and her attendance at school plummeted which lead to her getting expelled.

\- - Then her family moved to Beacon Hills

**So, there's a little bit of background to it and hope you'll give it a read!**

**Chapter 1:**

…

I hear my door creak open slowly and I quickly jump into bed and pull the covers over the top of me. I watch as the door slowly opens and whoever is on the other side slides in and shuts the door. I let out a sigh of relief when I see that it's just my sister sneaking into my room.

"Allison! You scared the crap out of me. I thought you were Mum!" I whisper as I climb out of bed and reveal my outfit. I was wearing tight fitting black sports leggings, a plain white shirt, my good running sneakers and a thick coat that I knew would keep me warm this late at night.

Allison rolls her eyes as she sits down on my bed, "Seriously. We have our first day of school tomorrow and you're sneaking out! You said you would smarten up this year, Lex…"

"And I will," I ensure Allison as I sit down beside her and wrap my arms around her. She was my younger sister but it always felt like Allison was the more responsible one out of the two of us, "I promise I won't get expelled or suspended at this school."

"But you're still going out tonight," Allison sighs as she leans her head on my shoulder, "And what are you even doing? Surely you're not going for a run this late at night?"

I smile and chuckle quietly, "Yeah, I'm still going out tonight." I jump up off the bed and grab my phone and purse as I head towards the window, "There's a boxing gym that stays open late. I wanna go check it out."

Allison stares at me with a disappointed look on her face. I let out a sigh and roll my eyes slightly, "Come on, Ally. I've already promised I'll be better at school this year," I say with a wide and cheeky smile.

"Just please be careful," Allison pleads with me and I give her a wink before I climb out the window and begin my night of exploring Beacon Hills.

…

As I walk up the front steps of my new school, I yawn loudly and lift my sunglasses up off my face and on top of my head. I had stayed out later than planned last night and was now struggling to function properly for school. I made it home before my parents found out that I was gone though. But I had to hide a couple of injuries I had gotten last night which made it hard to pick an outfit that covered my bandaged arm and slightly bruised neck. Normally, I would've skipped school today so that I could catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night but I was keeping my promise to Allison. I told her things would change this year. I promised her that I would change.

I stop at the top of the steps and stare up at the school building in front of me. I couldn't help but think about every single first day I had endured throughout my high school life. My family had moved us around so much that Allison and I were basically at a new school every year. I had a feeling about this place though. I started to wonder if maybe this would be our last stop for a while.

"Lexi," Allison calls my name and I look up to see she was still holding the door open for me. I quickly enter the building behind the Principal that was taking us to our classes while trying to hide the fact that every time I took a step my legs would ache.

"Now, I understand your parents were hoping to keep you two in the same classes this semester, but I'm afraid that wasn't entirely possible," the principal continues to talk to us about our schedules as I notice a familiar young face not far down the hall.

"We managed to put you in a few of the same classes, but your first classes today will be separate," the principal explains, "Allison, you will be in English and Alexis-"

I quickly interrupt the principal and correct him with my name, "Ah, I actually prefer to go by Lexi."

"Right," the principal nods, "There's one of your class mates right now. Jake!" the principal calls out and catches the attention of the handsome young face.

The young teenager turns around and makes his way towards us. I roll my eyes as I watch his eyes rake up and down my body before making eye contact with me again, "Jake. My name's Lexi and I believe I'm in the same class as you this morning.

"Oh okay, cool," Jake clears his throat before continuing, "You can follow me back to class if you want."

I go to follow after Jake when Allison grabs my hand, "Lexi…"

"I'll be fine," I say through gritted teeth as Allison's grip tightens around my sore hand, "You don't have to worry. I'm not going to screw up, okay?"

Allison nods and let's go of my hand but still looks unconvinced. I send a wink in her direction before hurrying off to catch up to Jake. I reach his side and give him a small smile as we walk towards my morning class, "Did you have a good night last night?" I ask in a quiet and teasing voice.

"You didn't tell your family you saw me last night did you?" Jake asks suddenly as we turn the corner in the hall and he grabs my arm roughly.

I let out a chuckle and shake my head, pulling my arm from his grip, "If I told my family that I saw you last night then I would need to explain why I wasn't in bed asleep. Trust me, I won't be telling anyone about last night."

**~Flashback to Last Night~**

_I walk into the preserve fastening the armguard to my arm before tightening my hold on my bow as I quietly made my way further into the trees using the almost full moon as my only light. The full moon was only a few days away and my Dad and his hunters would be out here instead. It wasn't a common occurrence for Hunters to be out here alone, especially on a night that wasn't a full moon but tonight wasn't exactly an ordinary night either. I had overheard on the police scanner we had in the garage that half a body had been found in the preserve and they suspected foul play. I knew my Dad would be looking into the discovery tomorrow and he would find out whether it was a werewolf or not, so I had to get a head start on finding out what happened. I didn't lie to Allison earlier, but things come up and checking out the late night gym would have to wait._

_I quickly duck behind a large tree when I hear heavy footsteps coming from behind me. I ready my bow and an arrow just in case but immediately relax when I see it's two young boys talking about seeing the dead body. I roll my eyes and wait for them to disappear into the distance again before I start trekking further into the woods. I knew I had to be careful not to be caught by the police that were out here searching for the other half of the body but knowing that those two boys were ahead of me they would surely be caught before anyone ever knew I was out here._

_I carefully slide my bow across my body like a sash, so I had both hands free. I stop when I hear police dogs barking up ahead and climb one of the trees closest to me to get a better view of where I was and who was up ahead. I shake my head slightly with a quiet chuckle seeing the boys had been caught and were being taken back towards the entrance of the preserve. I start going to climb down slowly but stop when I see the second boy walk out from behind some trees. I nod slightly impressed that one of them hadn't been caught and quickly decide to follow the younger boy and make sure nothing happened._

_I find his tracks fairly quickly and follow behind him at a safe distance. I stop suddenly when I feel the ground slightly shaking beneath my feet. I narrow my eyes slightly to get a good look ahead and see the younger boy narrowly miss being trampled by a bunch of deer. I fasten my pace and get closer to the boy seeing he was looking for something when he screams and jumps backwards, falling down a small slope. I walk over to where he had been, and my eyes widen seeing the top half of the body the police had been searching for._

_My attention's drawn away from the poor woman's body and I look down the slope seeing there was a huge werewolf chasing after the younger boy I had been trying to protect. I quickly run down the slope and once I reach the bottom I ready my bow and arrow aiming for the shoulder of the werewolf. I let the arrow go and it pierces the wolf's shoulder causing it to scream out and direct its attention onto me. My eyes widen slightly staring back at the blood red eyes of the animal in front of me. I knew some werewolves had the ability to turn into a full wolf, but this was bigger, angrier and much scarier than any wolf I had ever seen._

_I watch as the younger boy gets up in the distance and lifts his shirt revealing a large bite on his hip. I don't have much time to feel sorry for the young boy before the alpha werewolf starts running towards me. I quickly load up my bow and aim for the werewolf again hoping to slow it down again before I started running. The alpha gets closer and knocks the bow out of my hand causing me to stumble and fall to the ground. I try to reach for an arrow that was strapped to my back in my quiver but the alpha steps on my arm pressing the armguard I was wearing into my skin._

_I scream out in pain and manage to set off a flash-bolt to stun the werewolf long enough for me to slide out from underneath it. I dive for my bow and roll over while pulling out an arrow before aiming towards the alpha that had gained its bearings again and reached out clawing at my ankles and dragging me closer to it. _

_I fire off an arrow but miss from the amount of shaking my arm was doing from the pain. I kick out my legs in one last attempt to get enough space between us for me to get up and run for it, but the alpha manages to climb on top of me and wrap it's claws around my throat. I shut my eyes slowly and try to turn my head away from the hot breath that was fanning my face. I had never come across a werewolf that had this much anger. I could feel it shaking from the amount of anger that they were feeling and there was a burning rage behind the blood red eyes that stared down at me._

_I tried kicking my legs and wiggling the bottom half of my body to get out from under the werewolf, but its grip tightened around my neck. I take in one last gasp of air trying to muster the strength to get out of this mess before I let out a choked scream from the alpha's clawed hand getting torn away from my throat. _

_I sit up quickly, gulping in breaths of air as I start getting myself up and off the ground. I turn and see the alpha lock eyes with me before running off and leaving me alone with the guy that had saved me. I watch carefully as he turns around revealing his electric blue glowing eyes._

_He takes a step forward towards me and I go to thank the werewolf but a flash bolt goes off suddenly and I shield my eyes from the blinding light. When I look back up, I see the werewolf is gone and there is a young boy coming out from the shadows. As he gets closer I can see what he looks like with the small bit of moonlight that was shining through the trees. He bends down and picks up my bow and holds it out for me. I reach forward snatch the bow from his grip._

_"You're welcome," the guy says shaking his head at me with a small noticeable smirk on his face._

_I raise my eyebrows and clenched my jaw at him angrily, "Excuse me?"_

_"You heard me," the guy nods back, "I kinda just saved your life."_

_I wince slightly at the pain that flared up in my arm as I cross both arms over my chest, "You didn't do anything. It was the werewolf that saved me. You just scared him off."_

_The guy opens and closes his mouth for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. He stares at me for a moment taking me in and he points to my arm, "That doesn't look so good."_

_I lift my arm up carefully and see the armguard had broken on my arm and was already black from bruising, "It's nothing."_

_"You know, you could be a little nicer to the guy that just saved your life," the guy says with the same annoying smirk plastered on his face._

_I shake my head and turn to walk away from him, "We just established that you didn't actually 'save me'," I say with my voice slightly breaking as I walk forward causing my ankles to flare up in pain from the fight. I stop after a few steps and take a slow deep breath before turning around and coming face to chest with the guy._

_I look up and see him smiling down at me in amusement, "Need some help?" _

_I clench my jaw slightly in annoyance before forcing myself to nod in acceptance of his help. He chuckles slightly before quickly lifting me up into his arms, "I'm Jake by the way."_

_"Lexi," I say quietly before I roll my eyes seeing he has a very smug smirk on his face._

**~End of Flashback~**

I had let him bandage and clean up the scratches on my ankles. He explained that his family were hunters as well and that he had heard there was a daughter in the Argent family that knew about the supernatural and was likely to cause trouble. He'd said I could stay without his parents finding out, but I left once he'd finished fixing up my injuries. I just assumed I wouldn't see him again until our families crossed paths on the full moon.

The bell rings for the end of class and I start packing up my things, so I could go find Allison and see how her class went. I feel eyes watching me and I turn to see Jake is watching me carefully as I walk out of the classroom. I roll my eyes with a shake of my head and continue my search for Allison. There was something off about that boy and I was starting to notice an uneasy feeling whenever he looked at me.

"Lexi!" I hear my name called I turn around seeing Allison walking towards me, "How was your class?"

I shrug as we start making our way towards our lockers, "Uneventful. How was your class?"

"I forgot a pen! Of all things to forget! But some guy lent me his pen," Allison says, and I can see her cheeks filling with colour when she mentions the guy.

I smile and give her a nudge as we reach our lockers, "Was this guy cute?"

"Maybe," Allison shrugs and her cheeks get even darker as I watch her look over to a guy that was staring over at us. I shake my head and laugh at her when a girl with red hair approaches us suddenly.

"That jacket is absolutely killer," the girl says looking at Allison, "And those shoes!" she says while looking down at my feet, "Where'd you get them?"

Allison shrugs off the compliment and smiles, "Oh our Mum was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

"And you two are my new best friends!" the red head smiles warmly at us before a guy comes up behind her and greets him by giving him a kiss. He then turns to the two of us and I watch with a disbelieving look as he looks both Allison and I up and down.

Allison and I look at each other briefly before the girl in front of us introduces herself, "I'm Lydia and this is my boyfriend, Jackson."

"I'm Lexi," I say with a polite smile and Allison says her name too.

"So, this weekend there's a party," Lydia starts to explain.

I smile widely and look at Allison with a knowing look and I can tell she's not impressed with me, "A party?"

"Yeah," Jackson nods, "Friday night. You two should come."

I go to open my mouth and tell them I'm in but Allison beats me to it, "Uh, we can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."

I almost choke on air hearing Allison's lame excuse for a party and I quickly shake my head, "Yeah, I won't be sitting through family night on a Friday night. I will definitely be at the party!"

Jackson then turns to Allison, "You sure? I mean, everyone's going after the scrimmage."

"You mean like football?" Allison asks and Jackson shakes his head with a breathy laugh, "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won state championship for the past three years."

I roll my eyes at the subtlety of his obvious brag. Lydia then starts to gush about him also, "Because of a certain team captain."

"We have practice in a few minutes," Jackson says, "That is, if you don't have anywhere else…"

Allison looks at me and quickly tries to come up with an excuse, "Well, I was going to-"

"Perfect! You're coming!" Lydia interrupts and she grabs hold of Allison hands and starts dragging her to practice. I shake my head and let out a sigh before I follow after them.

We make it out to the field and sit on the seats where other students were gathering to watch as well, "So, are you two like twins or something?" Lydia asks as she sits in the middle of us.

I shake my head and laugh, "No, definitely not. We're just sisters and we are completely different."

"Lexi's supposed to be in senior year actually," Allison says and I look over to her with an annoyed look. I hated when people found out that I was 18 and still in sophomore year. Everyone always assumed that I got pregnant and had to drop out for a bit.

Lydia's head spins towards me and she looks at me with wide eyes, "You're 18!"

"Yes," I say with a shrug, "I had a couple of bad years and now I'm paying for it." Allison smirks slightly at me but I roll my eyes and shake my head at her playfully. I wasn't always this close with Allison. We fought constantly when I was going through my rough patch and we never saw eye to eye. We still don't really agree on anything, but we never let it become a huge issue now. I'm still hiding the fact that I know about what our family gets up to in their spare time but it was safer for her to be in the dark.

"You'd look old enough to buy us the alcohol for the party on Friday night!" Lydia squeals excitedly and I smile back in response. Lydia seemed a little full on, but she was really making an effort to talk to the two new girls.

I look around the lacrosse field at all the players warming up and catch the goalie staring in our direction. My eyes widen slightly in surprise when I realise it's the boy from the woods last night. I didn't expect to see those two boys again either. I turn back to the two girls next to me when I hear Allison ask who he is.

"Him? I'm not sure who he is," Lydia remarks, "Why?'

Allison blushes slightly and ducks her head in embarrassment, "Oh, he's in my English class." A whistle goes off loudly and I watch on as the boy that Allison was so interested in clutches his head in pain. He was clearly transitioning into a werewolf and all his sense were becoming heightened.

I smile slightly as the first lacrosse ball is thrown and it hits him in the head. I chuckle quietly and nudge Lydia, "This game looks like it might be enjoyable."

I watch on surprised as the next few balls are thrown towards the goal and the goalie actually catches them this time, "He seems like he's pretty good," Allison says with a smile.

"Yeah, very good," Lydia agrees with a little bit of surprise evident in her voice. Lydia's boyfriend is up next, and he throws the ball with a lot of force and the goalie catches it. Lydia jumps up and down and yells out in excitement with everyone and I watch as Jackson turns to give her a look.

I notice something just out of the corner of my eye and turn my head to look out towards the preserve that outlined the far side of the field. I screw my face up in confusion seeing someone standing just in front of the tree line watching the field and when I blink they're gone. I turn back to where the young boy that got the bite was on the field and wonder if I maybe just saw one of the werewolves that were out last night.

…

I look down at my phone and chuckle at the messages I was getting from Lydia. We had all exchanged numbers after lacrosse practice and we were now discussing details for the party. I look over to Allison who was driving and narrow my eyes at her, "So, why don't you want to come to this party on Friday?"

"Because I think you're going to make a fool of yourself and probably embarrass me," Allison quips back with a teasing smile on her face.

I roll my eyes and turn back to my phone, "Honestly, that was one time and it was like six months ago now. I don't even think Lydia has a pool, so it won't happen again."

"Okay fine. I know you've changed since then, but I just think it'll be boring and we don't know anyone yet," Allison sighs out as she starts to reach over and change the song.

I let out a groan and shake my head, "Of course we don't know anyone yet! But this party will fix that. Plus, if it's a really shit party then we'll come up with some excuse and leave early."

Allison gasps loudly all of a sudden and swerves the car quickly causing me to bump my head into the window of my door, "Ow, Allison what the hell!"

"Oh my god," Allison gasps out, "I think I hit something!" I look over to her with wide eyes and we both climb out of the car quickly. We make our way around the car and both gasp simultaneously when we see a dog lying on the ground.

I quickly kneel down beside it and it opens its eyes and barks at us, "You hit a dog!" I look up to Allison and see she is starting to cry. I hear a rustling in the bush and I stand up quickly looking into the woods that were right next to the road.

"What do we do?" Allison sobs out loudly.

I turn around and give her a reassuring smile, "It's okay. I saw a sign a little way's back and we're not far from the veterinarian. You get the dog in the car and take it there and I'm going to check and make sure we didn't hit anything else."

I quickly slide my jacket off and hand it to her, "Use this to pick the dog up and get it in the boot. Be careful with it though!" Allison nods quickly and I go around to my seat to grab my phone to use as a torch.

"Do you want me to wait?" Allison calls out as I hear the car boot shut. I shake my head and tell her to get the dog to the clinic and just come back for me after she's got the dog to the vet. I walk further into the woods and check the ground for any fresh prints that would indicate if there was another dog that we missed or maybe a person.

I let out a sigh seeing that the ground was too wet and that any prints were just getting washed out from the heavy rain that was falling. I turn around and let out a small gasp before reaching around to the waistband of my pants and pull out my stun gun. I didn't agree with the hunter's code, but after last night I thought it would be smart to carry my taser with me to ensure I was prepared. It wouldn't kill a werewolf, but it would give me enough time to get away if I had another incident. I shine my torch at the figure in front of me and the guy holds his hands up with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" I ask the man. He just continues to stare at me and I rest my finger on the trigger of the stun gun, "Well? Are you going to answer me?"

I see his eyes flash a familiar electric blue and I drop my aim of the taser slightly, "It's you..."

"And it's you," the guy says back, and he takes a step forward. I slide the stun gun back into my waistband and rest my hands on my hips.

I see him tilt his head the slightest in confusion and he takes another step forward, "Shouldn't you have a gun, maybe with some wolfsbane? You know, something lethal towards werewolves?"

"Shouldn't you have tried to attack me, a hunter?" I quip back as I tilt my hip out slightly and my face is full of sass.

He steps forward again, "I didn't attack you the other night." He takes another step and I can fully see his face now. I smirk slightly and nod, "Derek Hale." I take in the rest of his appearance and realise he was the person I saw standing on the outskirts of the lacrosse practice earlier.

"Alexis Argent," he quips back, and I feel my cheeks darken the slightest at the sound of my name leaving his mouth.

I run my hands through my rain-soaked hair and let out a sigh, "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. I heard some movement and thought that maybe we hit another dog."

"There's nothing else out here," Derek says shaking his head, "You should probably go. Before something else happens to you out here."

I rub my hand over my bruised and battered arm unconsciously before raising my eyebrows slightly, "Is that a threat?"

"No," Derek shrugs before he walks towards me and reaches down grabbing my injured arm, "But, unless you want another incident like last night, I probably wouldn't come back out here alone."

I stare back at him with a slightly curious look on my face. It wasn't often that I came across werewolves that were willing to have a chat with a hunter let alone save one. But Derek hadn't made a move or done anything that made me think he would attack me.

"You should probably work on your aim," Derek quips back with a small, amused smile on his face before he lets go of my arm and turns to walk away.

I narrow my eyes angrily and pull my taser out, pointing it directly at his back. I pull the trigger and hit him square in the back causing him to jolt slightly before stumbling forward. He turns around and I smirk at him confidently, "I'd say my aim is pretty good."

He shakes his head in annoyance, but I swear I see a glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he turns and disappears into the trees. I smile to myself and start to walk back in the direction I had come. I make it to the road again and see that there are no cars to be seen down either way. I let out a groan and start walking in the direction of the animal clinic.

After a few minutes I see Allison's car up ahead in the parking lot of the clinic. I let out a breathy laugh seeing that Allison was talking with the boy from school that she so obviously had a crush on. I make my way over and hear Allison tell him that family night was a lie.

I wait for them to finish talking before I call out Allison's name. She turns around and gasps, "Oh Lex, I'm sorry! I just wanted to make sure the dog was okay."

I shake my head and give her a knowing look, "Yep. Sure, it was the dog you were staying for." Her cheeks fill with colour and she turns around and gives Scott one last smile before she gets in the car.

"Don't!" Allison quickly says, and I smile teasingly and hold my hands up in surrender.

After we pull out of the parking lot I finally say something, "So, what's his name?"

"Scott," Allison says softly with a huge smile on her face. I nod slowly now that I had a name for the boy from the other night I could keep an eye on him and maybe ask a few of the lacrosse players what he played like before this season. If he was transitioning to a werewolf then his skills would definitely be stronger, and his senses would have started to become more heightened. It also meant that I'd have to keep him and Allison away from each other. I didn't want her finding out about Scott, and I definitely didn't want her involved in the family secret like I was.

…

I start stacking the books I needed into my bag and shut my locker as the last bell rings out. I smile to myself in excitement because it was finally the end of the day and it was the night of Lydia's party.

I hear her heels clicking against the floor before she reaches my side and she squeals excitedly, "You're coming straight over to my place, right? We need to start getting ready straight away and we also need to go buy the alcohol!"

I smile at her apologetically and shake my head in response, "I can't come over straight away and I can't stay for long at the party either."

"What! Why?!" Lydia shrieks back at me.

I shut my locker and chuck my bag over my shoulder, "My parents know I snuck out the other night and they want me home by 10pm."

"Ugh, seriously. That sucks," Lydia groans leaning against the lockers.

I nod slowly and Lydia links her arm with mine, "Well at least you'll still be there for a bit." Before we can make our way down the hallway, I catch a glimpse of Jake down the other end and he motions his head for me to come talk to him. I smile slightly and quickly tell Lydia I just had to go make sure I didn't leave anything behind.

I watch as Jake goes up a flight of stairs and then into one of the empty classrooms on the third level and I quickly follow him, "Yes? Is there a reason you summoned me?"

"Our families are going out for the full moon tonight," Jake explains, "Are you going to be there?"

I nod, "I plan to be. Why?"

"I overheard my Dad saying that you could be a bit of a loose cannon out in the field," Jake says with a shrug of his shoulders, "Just wanna make sure nothing's gonna happen tonight."

I let out a snort and roll my eyes, "The field? Seriously?"

I don't have time to react and before I know it Jake has me pinned against the wall putting pressure onto my injured arm, "This is serious. We're hunters and we work as a team. If there's someone out there that's going to put my family at risk, then I need to know."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I choke out as he presses his body harder into mine and I feel the breath being squeezed out of me. He steps back and it allows me to gasp slightly for some air and straighten up before grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. I force him to bend over the desk that was next to us and lean down close to his ear, "If anyone's going to get hurt tonight. It'll be you."

Jake struggles against my hold and I tighten my grip on his arm and twist even harder, "I asked around about you. You only found out about the supernatural a few months ago. Me, I've been doing this for 9 years now."

I let go of him and allow him to stand up and turn around to face me. I start walking back towards the door to leave, "I was trained by Kate Argent. I'm sure you've heard the stories about her."

"You don't scare me," Jake scoffs looking me up and down in disgust almost.

I roll my eyes and open the door to leave the classroom, "That'd be a whole lot more convincing if I couldn't see the fear in your eyes." I let out a small breath of relief when I get out into the hallway and see no one was around. I have no idea what he was thinking attacking me like that in a classroom but I knew I would be staying away from him tonight. The way he acted today compared to when he walked me to the first class just the other day was different. His behaviour had even changed from the night he fixed up my injuries. His manner almost reminded me of the way Kate could be sometimes and I wanted to be far away from that.

…

I rush down the stairs of my house and reach the front door when I hear my Dad call my name. I let out an annoyed sigh and turn around seeing he had his arms crossed over his chest and he was staring at the bag in my hand.

"I'm going to a party. I'll be home for the hunting trip," I explain quickly and turn back around to leave but he clears his throat loudly and I stop in my tracks again and turn to face him.

"It's a full moon tonight, you need to be completely focused on that," my Dad says clearly wanting me to skip the party.

I shake my head quickly, "You know that as soon as we get out in the preserve I'll be focused. You said I could go to this party for a bit before we had to go."

"If you drink any alcohol at this party don't bother coming to the preserve," he says with a disappointed sigh and I roll my eyes. My father was a much better trainer than Kate and he clearly kept the code in mind always, but I still didn't agree with killing werewolves. He was always really tough on me as well and I always felt like I was disappointing him in some way, like I couldn't do anything right.

I roll my eyes slightly and give him a mock salute, "Yes, sir," I mumble slightly before slamming the door behind me.

…

Lydia and I clink our cups together and let out a squeal each before we both down the drink in our hands. I really felt like letting loose tonight but I knew that if I drank too much I'd regret it later when I had to front up for the full moon. I look around and see Lydia's house slowly filling with people from school and I chuckle to myself seeing the pool in the middle of the outside entertainment area.

"What is it?" Lydia asks with a smile as she pours us both another drink.

I shake my head and laugh again, "It's just the pool. I told Allison you didn't have one because the last party we both went to I got a little carried away."

"You were right when you said you and Allison were completely different! She's so much quieter than you," Lydia chuckles as a few of the lacrosse guys start heading our way with Jackson.

Jackson comes up behind Lydia and starts kissing her neck. I look over and see some guys were starting to set up the beer pong table and tell Lydia I was going to go mingle. I make my way over to the table and challenge a couple lacrosse guys to a game.

After quite a few games, a couple of shots and one round of strip beer pong, I stumble over to the side of the house that had a door leading to a bathroom. I smile slightly seeing Allison and Scott walk out onto the dance floor and she looks over to me and smiles back happily.

I feel like there was someone staring at me and I turn around seeing Derek standing at the back gate that was across the backyard. I see his eyes glow back at me and I roll my eyes before I continue to the bathroom again.

Once I finish in the bathroom and stumble out into the hallway and look down at my watch. I needed to be back home in 20 minutes. I quickly rush out into the kitchen and gulp down a couple of glasses of water. I also splashed myself in the face with some water to quickly sober myself up. I go to make my way through the crowd in the kitchen and I notice Scott quickly walk away from Allison leaving her completely alone on the dancefloor. I walk over to her and immediately try to hide how drunk I really was.

"Ally? What happened?" I ask quietly but my words slur noticeably, and I know she can smell the alcohol on my breath. I had no idea how I was going to sober up before I got out to the preserve.

Allison lets out a sigh and shrugs her shoulders, "Everything was going great, but Scott just freaked out all of a sudden and he ran out that way."

"Ugh forget about him then! I'll introduce you to some other lacrosse guys," I exclaim. She rolls her eyes slightly at me but heads in the direction that Scott had gone. I start walking further into the party when I feel a pair of hands lift me up and chuck me over their shoulder. I go to ask who had grabbed me when I'm tossed off the person's shoulder and I scream slightly falling backwards. I close my eyes and brace for impact when I am completely submerged in water. I kick my feet and gasp for air as my head bobs out of the water and I open my eyes. I had been thrown in the pool. Someone had thrown me in the pool.

I look up and see Derek Hale standing at the edge of the pool with his arms crossed over his chest and staring down at me. I narrow my eyes angrily and swim over to the edge. He reaches down and pulls me out of the pool with ease. I shiver slightly when the cool air hits my saturated body, "What the hell was that for?"

"You're sober now. Let's go," Derek says abruptly and he grabs my arm dragging me towards the house. I snatch a towel sitting over a chair in the house and use it to start drying myself a bit.

"I really don't see why that was necessary," I say with an annoyed tone in my voice.

We make it out the front and I see Allison standing there looking around confused. Derek walks us over to her and introduces himself before telling Allison, "I'm a friend of Scott's."

I narrow my eyes at him and he gives me a wink while Allison turns, and watches Scott's car disappear around the corner.

"He asked me to give you a ride home," Derek explains.

Allison nods slowly and goes to follow Derek to his car but I don't move. She turns around and gives me a look, "Lexi?"

"Uh, I actually wanted to stay and party a little longer…" I drawl out slowly but Allison stares at me with an angry look and I let out a groan before I follow behind the two.

I climb into the passenger side and see Derek had a water bottle in the cup holders of his car. I immediately grab the water bottle and drink its entire contents. I can feel the judgey vibes coming off Allison in waves in the back and I turn around and ask, "So, what exactly happened with Scott?"

She shrugs in response and I roll my eyes, "The silent treatment? Really?"

"You do this every party," Allison mumbles under her breath and I can see Derek smirking to himself.

I slump down in my seat and cross my arms over my chest angrily, "Technically, I didn't do anything to embarrass you this time."

"You played strip beer pong with the entire lacrosse team!" Allison exclaims suddenly, and I turn around to see her cheeks darken from her outburst, "And for some reason you're soaking wet!"

"You weren't even there when I was playing that game!" I exclaim back getting just as frustrated at her, "And someone threw me into the pool, it wasn't my fault," I say giving a pointed look in Derek's direction.

She pulls out her phone and shows a picture of me in just my bra and high waisted skirt, "Lydia sent me pictures."

I smile to myself and chuckle softly as I think about the game of strip beer pong. It was a pretty lame excuse that those guys came up with to try and get my shirt off.

"I thought you didn't like when people saw your scars," Allison snaps.

My head snaps around to face her and I stare at her angrily. Allison opens her mouth to say something again, but it closes again after a moment and she shakes her head frustratingly. I turn back around and rest my hand on my thigh where my scars were hidden under my skirt.

We pull up to our house and Allison quickly climbs out. I wind the window down to the car and see Allison was staring at me expectantly, "Lexi, let's go."

I shake my head, "Nope. I told Dad that I would be staying at Lydia's, so I'm going back to the party," I lie quickly. I was so late to the hunting party but better late than never I guess.

Allison lets out a frustrated groan and storms into the house. I roll the window back up and turn to Derek and he's staring back at me with raised eyebrows, "Strip beer pong?"

"I can teach you how to play if you'd like?" I give him a wink and a playful smile, and he rolls his eyes at me as he pulls away from my house. I wasn't actually planning on going back to the party and my Dad had told me not to come hunting if I was intoxicated but I didn't care.

"So, I'm not going back to the party. I do still need a ride though, so if you could go to…" I start to ask him to take me to the preserve, but I notice Derek was already driving in that direction, "Where are we going?"

Derek speeds onto the back roads and I can feel my heartbeat quicken slightly, "Seriously, where are we going?"

He still doesn't answer me, and I let out a frustrated noise and slump back down in my seat. I look down at my phone and see it was now nearing midnight and my Dad would definitely be out hunting with the others by now. I wasn't exactly in hunting attire but at least I had my combat boots on.

We pull up to a burnt down house and I look out at the house with wide eyes, "You know, I've seen a lot of horror movies and this seems like the part where you kill me?"

I hear his car door slam shut and I climb out quickly and see him starting to walk away, "Derek? Where are you going?"

"Just stay here," Derek sighs out in annoyance, "I'll take you to your party after I'm finished out here."

I let out a frustrated noise before leaning back onto his car. I look up at the sky and admire the light shining down through the trees from the full moon. I roll my eyes and shake my head. I wasn't going to wait around for Derek to return. I start heading out into the preserve where Derek had disappeared. I quietly and carefully creep further into the darkness and smile to myself when I see I had stumbled onto where my Dad and the other hunters were.

I see Derek across the clearing with a boy that looked like it was Scott. I realise they haven't noticed just yet that the hunters are on top of them. I look over and see Jake taking aim in their direction. I quickly rush across the clearing and Jake lets go of the arrow. It comes flying through the air and I turn my body towards it allowing it to lodge itself deep in my shoulder.

I let out a scream of pain and fall backwards. I turn my head and see Derek and Scott staring at me with surprised looks on their face, "Run, quickly," I whisper out before turning back to see the hunters were scrambling to get another shot off.

I hear footsteps running towards me and my Dad has kneeled over beside me, "You happy with yourself?"

"I am actually," I wince out as I sit up slowly and pull the arrow out of my shoulder. I let out a pained noise before putting pressure onto the wound, "Lucky I didn't listen to your no alcohol rule because it would hurt a lot more if I was sober."

My Dad shakes his head at me and looks up to see the other hunters surrounding him, "Did we get them?"

"We managed to hit the smaller one. But they both got away," one of the hunters explain.

I look over and see Jake and his family are staring at me angrily. I roll my eyes and pull myself up off the ground, "I'm going to get to the animal clinic. Deaton will help me out."

"I'll take you," my dad says but I shake my head. I knew he was concerned about me but I knew that if he came with me the other hunters would probably be more pissed.

"It's fine," I say quickly, "I drove myself."

Jake scoffs, "I don't know how, I can smell the alcohol on you from here."

I look over to my Dad and see his signature disappointed look directed at me, "We'll discuss this when you get home. Get to the clinic."

I give my Dad an apologetic look before wandering off. I didn't regret what I did but I did feel bad that my Dad would be getting an earful from the other hunter family about my actions.

…

I head back in the direction of where Derek had parked his car, "I told you to wait at the car," I hear Derek's say angrily when I walk out of the trees to where his old house stood. He was leaning against his car with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, well now we're even," I shrug slightly and start making my way around to the passenger side of the car, "You saved my life and now I've saved yours."

Derek reaches out and grabs my arm, turning me around to face him, "That arrow wouldn't have killed me. It could've killed you though."

I let out an amused laugh and shake my head, "That kid is a hunter in training, he doesn't have the best aim. I probably wouldn't have tried to save you if it was my father aiming the arrow."

Derek let's go of my arm slowly before nodding towards my wounded shoulder, "You need to get that cleaned and stitched up."

I roll my eyes and start heading back towards the passenger side of the car, "Yeah, no shit. I just need you to take me to the animal clinic and I can do the rest." I turn my head towards the burnt down house that we had pulled up at and stop as I rest my hand on the car door handle. I had heard some of the stories about the Hale house fire and in the werewolf/hunter community there were a lot of rumours going around saying that it was an Argent that caused the fire, but I didn't know the full story.

I turn my head in Derek's direction and I can see he's staring back at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I give him a small, sad smile and take another brief look at the house, "It's still beautiful. The house. I can just imagine how gorgeous it looked before-"

"Before my family was burned alive," Derek cuts me off and finishes my sentence in a harsh and accusatory tone.

I look back at him with a sad expression and a slightly agape mouth as he motions for me to get in the car. We both climb in and he starts driving with the both of us sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

I clear my throat slightly interrupting the awkward silence, "Um, thanks for waiting for me by the way and not leaving me in the preserve with no ride."

"Yeah, well you did take an arrow for me," Derek says with a slight tone of annoyance. I watch Derek closely and I swear I see the corner of his lips turn up slightly, but his expression is quickly back to brooding. I turn my head away from him again and stare out the window. I understood why Derek was reluctant to talk to me, but I wasn't anything like the hunters in my family. There was a stage in my life where I could've been a lot like Kate, but she put me in danger once before and a werewolf was killed because of her.

My hand unconsciously rests on my shoulder and I let my fingers find the raised scarring on the back of my shoulder. Like it always did when I thought about my first hunting trip with Kate. I had the scars to prove that werewolves could be dangerous, but they also reminded me that werewolves were just people and that not all of them deserved to be hunted and killed.

Derek pulls into the animal clinic car park and turns his car off. I turn my head and look at him confused, "You don't have to stay."

"You really thought you were going to be able to stitch up your own shoulder wound," Derek says rolling his eyes at me.

I open my mouth to retort back but he climbs out of the car and shuts the door before I can get a word out. I let out a frustrated groan before following Derek out of the car and towards the back of the clinic. I pull out the keys in my back pocket and tap Derek lightly on the arm to move him out of the way. I unlock the back door and flick the light on inside. I turn to Derek and he's looking at me with raised eyebrows.

I shrug, "We have a sort of arrangement with the clinic. We have a key and can use the clinic late at night for emergencies. If it's something serious we usually call the owner to patch us up, but this isn't serious," I say pointing at my shoulder wound that had now left a big red stain on my shirt.

I lead the way inside and find the room with all the supplies. I flick the light on in the clinic room and start gathering all the items I'll need. Derek steps into the room slowly and looks around the room carefully. I lay out the items on the table before pointing towards them, "Alright, that's all you'll need. You ready?"

Derek's gaze meets mine and he walks further into the room and stops a couple of steps away from me, "Sit up on the table," he instructs almost grumpily.

I roll my eyes but follow his instruction, "I didn't ask you to help me with this part."

Derek doesn't say anything as he picks up the alcohol wipes. He stands in front of me and his torso brushes against my legs as they hang off the edge of the operating table. He stares at me for a moment and I begin to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Shirt off," Derek says slightly softer than his previous instruction. I feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment and I know my eyes have widened in panic slightly. I take a slow breath before reaching down to the hem of my shirt and slowly pulling it off my body. I sit the shirt down beside me and keep my head up straight while avoiding Derek's gaze. I know he can see only the slightest bit of my scar that rests on the back of my left shoulder.

"I'm just going to clean up the wound a little bit before I start stitching it up" Derek says quietly, and his attention is back onto my shoulder instead of my scarring.

I wince slightly when he begins cleaning in and around the wound and we both stay silent as he begins stitching up my shoulder. After what feels like the longest and most awkward silence ever, Derek wipe the now stitched up wound one last time, "All done."

I look down at my shoulder and nod, "Uh thanks." I reach down for my shirt and screw my nose up slightly realising I would be putting my bloody shirt back on. I look back to Derek who was still watching me and when our eyes meet he steps backwards quickly. I slide off the table and let out a small sigh, "I think I might just throw this shirt out."

Derek nods in response and I see his eyes flick up to my shoulder for a brief second, I almost miss it. I start packing up the leftover items and putting them back where I found them. I turn to Derek again but before I can say anything I hear a car pull up out the front of the clinic.

"You need to go," I say quickly, "If it's any of the hunters, they aren't going to ask questions. They'll shoot first."

Derek opens his mouth and for a moment I think he is going to argue but he just nods and quickly ducks out of the room and towards the back entrance to where he had parked his car. I can hear the front door to the clinic jingle as the door is unlocked and opened. I then start packing away the last couple of items when the person enters the room. I let out a quiet breath when I see that it is someone I already know. I wasn't exactly prepared if it was someone I didn't know.

"Did my father send you here to check on me?" I say rolling my eyes.

Jake's gaze is fixated on my scars and I see him smirk slightly, "I'd heard that you choked on your first hunting trip." He starts slowly walking forward and around the table to get closer to where I was standing, "I tried to warn you. I knew you were going to cause trouble on our hunting trip tonight and you fucked up the whole thing."

"Oh, I don't know," I say with a shrug and I motion to my shoulder, "It gave you a bit of aiming practice. You were so close to doing some real damage tonight."

I see Jake's hands curl into fists and his smirk disappears as he becomes angrier. He slowly walks forward keeping his eyes trained on me and I stand still not moving as he stops inches away from my face, "You've had the privilege of being taught by one of the best family of hunters and all that talent has been wasted on a smartass screw up that will never be able to pull the trigger when it matters."

"Well," I drawl out slowly, "You've got the smartass part right," I finish with a wink. Jake swings one of his fists right towards my face and I quickly dodge it and shove him backwards. He stumbles slightly and looks back at me angrily, "You just acknowledged that I was taught by the best family of hunters. You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" I mock him slightly and shake my head at him.

"If you're not going to take this business seriously, then stay out of it," Jake practically yells at me, "You don't deserve to be an Argent."

I roll my eyes and turn to leave out the back entrance, "Sticks and stones, Jakey. I'll see you around." I flick the lights off as I leave and lock the back door behind me. I turn and take a couple of steps before stopping abruptly. Derek was still there and leaning up against his car waiting.

"He really doesn't like you," Derek breaks the silence with a slight smirk on his face.

I shake my head and laugh quietly, "Just get in the car before he sees you. Why are you even still here? I told you to go." We both climb in the car and he shrugs in response to my question.

I let Derek know my address and when we reach my street he slows down a couple houses away from my driveway, "Thanks for the ride," I say quietly. Before I can climb out of the car Derek calls out my name. I turn around and see he's passing me his jacket to wear.

I look down at myself in just a bra and skirt and chuckle slightly, "Right, I forgot that I no longer had a shirt on."

I see Derek roll his eyes slightly and he turns his attention back to the road. I climb out of the car and slide my arms into the jacket and pull it close around my body as he speeds off down the road. I inhale the scent left on his jacket and feel myself blushing at how much I really liked the smell of him. I watch his car disappear around the corner before sending a text to Lydia apologising for disappearing from the party.

I walk into my driveway and see my mother open the front door and stand in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, "And how drunk are you this time?"

"Not drunk enough to sit through this conversation," I say with a frustrated sigh as I can see her studying how well I was walking. I brush past her and go to make my way up to my room, but she clears her throat to get my attention.

I turn around and rub my eyes tiredly, "I really just want to go to sleep."

"Tonight, was the full moon and you're an Argent. You have a responsibility now whether you like it or not," my mother scolds me, "Your father told me what happened out there tonight."

I look upstairs to make sure Allison's bedroom door is shut and look back at my mum angrily, "Can you keep it down? Allison cannot find out about any of this," I say in a hushed voice before I continue, "You know exactly how I feel about my 'responsibility' and I've made it very clear that I don't agree with killing anyone."

"Allison will be told about all of this one day and I just hope she takes the responsibility more seriously," my Mum says, her voice dripping with disappointment.

I roll my eyes and start making my way to my room again, "Yes, I know, you've constantly reminded me that I'm a disgrace to this family and I'm letting everyone down- blah, blah, blah," I turn around and see her watching me with an angered expression and she shakes her head at me.

I never really had a close relationship with my mother and she always made it clear how disappointed she was that I wasn't 'committed' to being a hunter. She also liked to remind me that I would never be a 'real' Argent if I didn't start taking the responsibility seriously.

I let out a long sigh as I flop down onto my bed finally. I was annoyed with how the night had turned out but to my surprise I was still thinking about my encounter with Derek and why he was popping up in places I was.

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

…

I shut my locker and start making my way towards lacrosse practice with Lydia. She had spent the entire day trying to set me up with a lacrosse player from the party so that we could double date.

"Lydia, I don't really want to date any of the lacrosse players," I say with a sigh, "I'm not really looking to date anyone."

Lydia nudges me and gives me a sly smile, "Oh were you thinking more of a hook-up or booty call?"

I laugh and shake my head, "No, I don't want that either. I mean we only just moved here, I think I'd just like to meet a few new people and make some friends before I even think about dating someone."

"You're such a dork," Lydia snickers and I roll my eyes at her. I hadn't really thought about any of the guys that Lydia had introduced me to at the party. I did find my thoughts wondering to a particular werewolf though and it was becoming distracting. I was even wearing his jacket again today and I kind of hoped that he never asked for it back. I didn't need to see him though, we were even now. He saved my life and I saved his, the only reason I had for seeing him again was if my family or other hunters were going to target him.

Lydia and I sit down on the bleachers and look out at the field to see Scott get knocked down by Jackson, "Wow Jackson's a tad intense today?"

"Well, he is the captain of the team for a reason," Lydia defends and she stands up clapping in support for her boyfriend. I watch carefully as the coach bends down next to Scott and starts talking to him.

"McCall's going to do it again! McCall's gonna do it again!" the coach taunts and Scott return back to the starting position. The whistle blows and Scott charges towards Jackson again and knocks him backwards onto his back with a sickening sound. Lydia gasps and starts rushing over towards her now injured boyfriend.

I watch as Scott falls to his knees as his scrawnier friend rushes to his side. They both get up and starting running off the field and into the school. I quickly get up and start to follow them but stop abruptly when I catch someone standing off the side of the lacrosse field. I take a step in the direction that Derek is but quickly shake my head and turn back towards the school.

"Get away from me!" I hear growls and crashing coming from the lacrosse locker rooms as soon as I enter the building. I run into the locker room and see Scott wolfed out and climbing over the lockers trying to get to his friend. I look to my left and grab the fire extinguisher hooked to the wall.

"Hey!" I exclaim and Scott turns his attention to me. I quickly pull the pin on the extinguisher and aim the nozzle directly at him. I grab his friends arm and pull him out of the way and back into the hallway with me.

Scott's friend looks at me with wide eyes and opens his mouth to say something when we both hear Scott call out and his normal voice, "Stiles? What happened?"

I look at the boy beside me and he slowly and carefully steps back into the locker room, "You tried to kill me. And, uh, Alexis stopped you."

I step into the doorway and give Scott a small wave and smile. His eyes widen and his whole body tenses, "Wait, uh, you stopped me?"

"I did," I say with a nod, "You're welcome."

Stiles takes a shaky breath in and kneels down in front of his friend, "It's like I told you before. It's the anger, your pulse rising. It's a trigger."

"But that's lacrosse, it's a pretty violent game if you haven't noticed," Scott whines and I can see his eyes shifting nervously from me to his friend.

I step forward and place the fire extinguisher down on the ground, "Well, it's probably going to be more violent if you end up killing someone on the field."

Both Stiles and Scott stare at me before Stiles nods with a slight shrug, "She has a point. You can't play on Saturday. You have to get out of the game."

"But I'm first line," Scott says with a saddened look on his face.

I roll my eyes, "Look, Scott and uh Stiles is it?" I ask looking at the boy in question and he nods, "You two are both new to this. I am not. And trust me, you do not want to do anything that's going to expose you or any other werewolves to the hunters in town."

"You're one of them though? So, how can we trust you?" Stiles scoffs slightly and stands up trying to be on the same level as me.

I nod, "Technically, yes I am one of them. But I want to help you. Scott, I know you saw me take an arrow that night in the woods," I pull my shirt off my shoulder slightly to show them the wound I had stitched up, "I told you and Derek to run. Why would I do that if I wanted to hurt you?"

Stiles and Scott take a moment and exchange a few looks between them before Stiles sighs, "Okay. You may have a point. But what's in it for you if you help us?"

"My sister doesn't find out about werewolves and no one gets hurt," I say with a smile and hold my hand out for them to shake. They both look at my hand for a moment before I roll my eyes and start backing up out of the room, "Okay fine. You need some time to think about it. Just come see me when you need my help, okay?"

I don't wait for a response and instead turn around and leave them to think about it. I get a text from Lydia saying that she was going to the hospital with Jackson to see what the damage was on his shoulder. I pull out my keys and start walking through the school towards the car park. Scott and Stiles would need my help, there was no doubt about that. But it was obvious that Derek was trying to keep an eye on Scott as well. Maybe I would be seeing the blue-eyed, brooding werewolf more often than I thought.

…

I rush downstairs quickly and yell out to whoever would listen in the house, "I'm going for a run and then I'm going to hang out with Lydia!" I finish just as I reach the front door and my hand touches the door handle.

I hear both my parent's clear their throats to get my attention and I let out an internal groan before turning around to where they were standing. My Dad stares at me with raised eyebrows and my mum has her arms crossed over her chest, "What time will you be back?"

"Late," I say with a shrug, "If it gets too late I'll just stay with Lydia."

My Dad nods his head slowly as if he's slowly accepting my answer, "Okay then. Don't run in the preserve, okay?" I give him a nod and start making my way out the door.

…

I pull up at the late night gym that I had looked up the night before starting school. I was finally getting a chance to do some training. I climb out of my car and walk towards the entrance, but I see someone starting to lock the doors.

I quickly rush over to the man before he turns to leave, "No, wait! I thought this gym stayed open late?"

"Not tonight kid," the guy sighs out, "I need to lock up early."

I shake my head and give him a pleading look, "Please! Can you just leave it unlocked? And I promise I'll lock up when I'm done."

The guy stares at me for a moment before letting out a defeated groan. He unlocks the door and opens it for me, "If you make a mess, clean it up. Just lock this door when you go in so no one can come in after you. And make sure you lock it when you finish."

I smile widely and nod, "Yes of course! Thank you so much." The guy shakes his head with a smile and turns to leave. I go inside the gym and lock the door behind me. I head over to the boxing bags and start slowly warming up. It isn't until about half-way through my warm up when I start to feel like someone might be watching me.

I slowly look around the gym but don't notice any shadows or figures in the darker areas of the room. I quickly shrug it off and turn back to my warm up. I let out a quiet gasp when I see that Derek is standing behind the boxing bag that I had been warming up with.

"Derek?" I squeak out with my voice cracking slightly. I inwardly groan at how weak I sounded.

"I thought I had told you to avoid going places alone at night," Derek says as I see a slight flicker of blue appear in his eyes before it disappears again.

I raise my eyebrows in shock and shake my head quickly, "Uh, no you told me to stay out of the preserve. How did you get in here?"

"If it was this easy for me find you and get into this locked gym, then how easy do you think it'll be for that alpha to get you? Or that hunter?" Derek questions.

I grit my teeth slightly in annoyance before pushing all of my weight into a punch into the boxing bag causing Derek to stumble slightly, "Are you following me?"

"I saw you today, you helped Scott. At the school," Derek states as he turns and makes his way to the boxing ring in the middle of the gym, "You're not like the other hunters."

I screw my face up in confusion and walk towards the ring that Derek was now standing in. He pulls apart the ropes that line the edge of the boxing ring and he pulls me up onto the platform. He grabs hold of the boxing gloves on my hands and pulls them off, throwing them off to the side. I stand there staring at him for a moment before he gets a small smirk on his face.

"Hit me," Derek tells me and he gets into a very relaxed fighting stance.

I raise my eyebrows and shake my head, "Uh, what?"

Derek swings a fist towards me and I quickly lean backwards and take a step backwards too, "Okay what the hell?"

"Hit me," Derek says again with a small shrug, "I want to see how well you can fight."

I stare back at him for a long moment to see if I can see what's going on in his head but he continues to stare back at me with the same small smirk plastered on his face. I narrow my eyes slightly and nod slowly. If he wanted me to hit him then I wasn't going to argue.

I swing my arm towards Derek but he catches my fist in his hand. He twists my arm behind my back and pulls my body into his roughly. I throw my head back and hit him in the nose but he recovers too quickly for me to get out from his grasp. His arm wraps around my neck and I can feel him hesitating slightly on tightening his grip on my neck. I jolt my entire body backwards and pull myself down and out of his loose headlock. We both throw a few punches that never connect with any intended body parts and continue to move around the ring trying to pick up on each other's weak spots.

I quickly sweep my leg into his causing him to fall to his knees. Derek tries quickly to get back up on his feet but I throw myself into him and our bodies slam against the boxing ring platform. I sit up and straddle Derek's hips tightly while my hands tightly grip his wrists and I force his arms up above his head.

I lower my head so that our faces are inches from touching and smirk, "How'd I go?"

Derek narrows his eyes slightly and I can feel him jolt his hips side to side and upwards in an attempt to flick me off. I tighten my grip on his wrists and shake my head, "What was the point of this?"

Derek's head swiftly lifts up off the ground and into mine with a loud smack. My grip loosens from around his hips and both his wrists and he's able to flick me off. He pushes me down onto my back and straddles my hips while forcing my arms up above my head. I roll my eyes when I look up and see him smirking widely and looking down at me amused.

"You're not like the other hunters," Derek states again, "But you certainly fight better than most hunters I have crossed paths with."

Derek climbs off me and he holds his hand out for me to grab onto. I reach up and let him pull me up off the ground, "And?"

"And I think we can help each other out," Derek cryptically says, "I need to find the alpha that attacked you that night and I need Scott's help to do it."

I nod slowly and cross my arms over my chest, "And where exactly do I come into this?"

"Alexis," Derek starts to say but I quickly shake my head and interrupt him, "Lexi."

He stares at me for a second before continuing, "Lexi, you've got your foot in both camps here. You'd be able to help me protect Scott from the hunters and also use your training to find the alpha."

"And what? Kill it?" I say with raised eyebrows.

He shrugs, "Is that going to be a problem?"

I stop and think for a moment. I already knew this alpha was capable of killing and they were 100 per cent going to kill me the other night before Derek had scared them off. It's not like there was another option here really.

"No," I finally say, "I'll help you." Derek nods and goes to walk away from me but I continue, "One condition though."

He stops and slowly turns back around looking at me expectantly, "Why are you so willing to trust me?"

Derek pauses and thinks for a few beats before replying, "Look, for some reason I just know that I can trust you. I know you're different than your family and that you try to do what's right."

I feel my cheeks blush the slightest and I nod in agreeance, "Uh, yeah I get you. I feel like I can trust you too, it's a gut thing I think."

Derek nods and begins walking away while saying, "I'll keep in touch about the alpha and Scott. Oh and I know you've been wearing my jacket."

I feel my cheeks turn completely red now as I watch as Derek leaves and feel slightly in daze thinking about his words. 'I know that I can trust you'. I knew exactly what he was talking about because I couldn't help but feel the same way about him. I have never felt this level of trust with anyone before. Not even family came close. I hadn't stopped thinking about our encounters since we first ran into each other and I couldn't help but wonder why I felt so comfortable with someone that was essentially a stranger to me.

…

I sit down on the bleachers next to my Dad as Allison sits down with Lydia. I let out a nervous breath looking out onto the field where the game was getting ready to start. Scott hadn't listened to Derek or me and was now playing in the game despite his inability to control his newfound werewolf abilities. And to make matters worse, Scott and Stiles had gotten Derek arrested for killing the girl that was found in the preserve. Although to be fair, Derek looked pretty damn guilty with the police finding the other half of the body buried on his property. The whistle blows signalling the start of the game and a silently hope that nothing bad happens.

I feel as though I've been holding my breath the entirety of the game watching as Scott fights his instincts to transform on the field. When he shoots the final goal and the whistle blows signalling the end of the game, everyone rushes onto the field to congratulate our team. I see Allison quickly make her way towards the field and over to Scott but he's already making a beeline for the school. She heads in the same direction following him. I stand up to quickly follow her but my Dad grabs my arm and stops me.

"Derek's been released. They found wolf hairs on the body," Chris says looking down at his phone that had the text with details about the werewolf situation.

I nod slowly and can't help but feel glad knowing that Derek was proven innocent. However, the hunters now knew that it was him back in Beacon Hills and this would make it even more difficult for us to find the alpha now.

"The Calavera's aren't impressed that you're the reason we didn't get Derek the other night," Chris sighs out looking at me with a familiar look of annoyance and disappointment, "They want you to come along when we give Derek a little message. They want to see if you can be trusted. This will reflect on our whole family."

I let out a frustrated noise but then nod in agreeance, "Fine. But if I do this, if I come on this little hunting party that's it. I'm done and you leave me out of any future dealings with that family."

"Fine," Chris agrees reluctantly. I quickly turn and head into the school where most of the players and spectators have made their way over as well. I see Allison talking to Lydia and let out a quiet breath of relief. I then see Scott and he nods at me slightly letting me know he's fine.

Chris comes up behind me and asks if I'm coming home with him and Allison. I shake my head and say that I'm going to hang out for a bit with Lydia and the players before coming home in an hour or so. Chris nods and leaves to go get Allison. Lydia makes her way over to me and we hang out while waiting for the lacrosse players to shower and freshen up.

"Are you coming back to Jackson's to celebrate? Some of the guys have been asking about you," Lydia smiles widely at me while she wiggles her brows at me suggestively.

I roll my eyes with a chuckle, "No, actually I think I'll just go home. I'm feeling pretty tired now."

"Ugh lame! See you at school Alexis," Jackson winks at me as his arm snakes around Lydia's waist and they head off. I roll my eyes at the boy and begin making my way through the school to the main car park where I had left my car.

I unlock my car when I'm a few steps away but am caught off guard suddenly when I feel someone grab my hair and slam my head into the car window. I let out a strangled cry as my knees hit the ground and I blink my eyes as my vision blurs. I feel a hand wrap around my throat and lift me up off my knees shoving me into the car. Their body presses against mine and I can finally focus on the person that's got a hold of me.

"Jake, what the fuck?" I choke out as I squirm under his grip and I can feel my feet being slowly lifted off the ground.

He chuckles loudly, "Well, Lexi, you might be the better hunter but I am a lot stronger than you." I try to open my mouth to say something again but his grip tightens around my throat and all that comes out is a small whimper.

His smirk gets wider at the sound of this, "You know, I really like it when you make those noises under my touch." I want to gag at his words and shove him off me but he's right, he is a lot stronger than me and he had the element of surprise which has worked in his favour this time.

"You're the reason Derek Hale got away the other night," Jake spits out angrily, "We had a chance to get him and you jumped in front of that arrow and stopped it."

Jake's releases his grip on my throat and I gasp for air using the car to hold me up, "You're a psychopath."

He shrugs slightly before smiling again, "Maybe. But now I know what puts fear into your eyes." He pauses and I open my mouth to say something when I freeze suddenly. Jake slides his hand down between them and rests his hand between my thighs squeezing slightly. His head leans forward and I can feel his breath next to my ear, "You don't like feeling powerless."

My eyes drift away from Jake's face and I can see just beyond the car park that Derek is coming straight for me. I shake my head and whisper softly, "Stop."

Jake laughs thinking that I'm begging him to stop and I whimper out another command to stop. Derek's steps falter and I shake my head again telling him to please stop. If he came over, things would only be ten times worse. Jake grabs me by the neck again and throws me to the ground. He stands on my arm pushing all his weight down, "If you choose the wrong side again, I can promise you I can get a lot nastier."

He turns and leaves and I clutch my arm to my chest whispering quietly for Derek to wait until Jake is gone completely. I can hear Jake get into his car and drive off before Derek's heavy footsteps get closer and closer. I slowly lift myself up off the ground and Derek reaches down and helps me up off the ground. His hands push my hair away from my face and he rests his hand gently on my cheek before stepping back quickly.

"Why did you tell me to stop? I would've killed him," Derek all but growls out and his eyes flash electric blue.

I shake my head and reach up wiping away some tears angrily, "If Jake found out you were trying to help me we're both dead."

"I'm fine," I say with as much strength I can muster hoping that if I say it then I'll start to feel fine.

Derek shakes his head, "He's way crazier than what I first thought."

"I underestimated him too," I say with a shrug, "I can say confidently now that he was putting on a good show making me feel like I was the one in control when we've had interactions. I'm not going to let him break me though."

Derek stares at me for a moment before he lets out a small breath, "Look, I'll keep my distance but if he tries to hurt you again I'm not sure if I'll be able to reign it in next time. I won't be able to sit back and watch that happen again."

"Why are you so interested in saving me?" I blurt out suddenly as I let my hand go up to my neck and soothe the pain that was still throbbing from Jake's grip.

I watch as Derek thinks for a moment and seems to weigh up his options of what he says in response to my question. I couldn't lie, I was worried about him also and what would happen if the hunters were to get to him. But we only just met and I didn't make a habit of getting attached to werewolves since the last one.

"We're not exactly a team fighting to find the alpha if you get yourself killed," Derek finally responds with a shrug. I nod in acceptance of his pretty loose explanation as to why he was concerned for me but tell him that I'll do my best to keep the hunters off his trail in return.

…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Pack Mentality**

…

"Wait so you killed her?" I hear Stiles ask Scott quietly as I trail behind them discreetly. I raise my eyebrows slightly and shake my head. These boys had no idea how to talk in hushed tones which was good for me because I'd be able to keep up with what's going on even if they hadn't come to me for any help.

Scott shrugs, "I don't know! I just woke up and I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before…"

Stiles responds sounding slightly surprised, "Really, I have… Usually ends differently." I screw my face up in disgust at the young teens confession. Seriously, Derek better appreciate the effort I'm making to keep an eye on these two idiots.

Scott screws his face up in disgust in response as well, "Okay A. never share that much information of you in bed and B. I meant I never had a dream that felt so real before." I nod along to Scott's explanation of his dream. It sounded like a normal nightmare and I assumed he had been dreaming about Allison because she couldn't stop talking and thinking about Scott either. Seriously, out of all the guys she could've chosen to crush on at this school she picks the one that is fresh out of a Michael J. Fox movie.

I feel a pair of eyes watching me as I continue following Scott and Stiles down the hallway. I see Jake leaning against his locker with a smug look on his face as he looks me up and down. I roll my eyes and divert my attention back to the conversation I was listening in on just as Stiles says, "Let me take a guess here..."

Scott quickly cuts off his best friend before he can elaborate, ""I know what you're gonna say! That it has something to do with me going out with Allison tonight," Scott sighs, "Like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."

I shrug slightly myself and nod. That would be a fair guess on Stiles behalf. He shakes his head, "No, of course not."

Scott gives Stiles a look and Stiles exhales slightly before nodding, "Yeah, that's totally it." Scott drops his head and I can only assume he has a worried look on his face and he exhales nervously.

"Hey, come on. It's gonna be fine, all right?" Stiles says trying to support his friend, "Personally, I think you're handling this pretty freaking amazingly. You know, it's not like there's a Lycanthropy for Beginners class you can take."

Scott pauses for a minute before he suggests, "Not a class… But maybe a teacher. Maybe even two?"

"Who Derek?" Stiles exclaims and gives Scott a smack on the back of the head, "You forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail?!"

I roll my eyes at the two and Stiles continues, "And that Alexis chick? She's an Argent, a hunter! You think she'd help you?"

"Yeah I know…" Scott sighs loudly and shakes his head, "It's just, chasing her, dragging her to the back of the bus. It felt so real."

Stiles asks, "How real?" as we reach the end of the corridor and the two boys go to push the doors that lead outside open.

"Like it actually happened," Scott says unsure of whether his dream was just a dream or if it was a memory. The two young teens step outside and stop suddenly in their tracks causing me to bump into them as I look ahead at what they were staring at. There was a school bus with blood splattered across a lot of the surfaces and the police had taped it off as a crime scene.

"I think it did happen," I say with wide eyes and Scott and Stiles both turn and look at me before Scott pushes past and runs of muttering he had to find Allison. I roll my eyes again, which was becoming a regular occurrence with these two boys, as Stiles stares at me for a moment longer and quickly follows his best friend.

If they took a minute to ask me, I could have told them that Allison was fine and that Scott must have replaced what really happened on the bus with a dream version. I pull out my phone and text Derek to ask if he knew about the crime scene at the school. He replies quickly and says that he did know about it and he would handle it. I send another text quickly explaining that Scott probably knew what happened but he thought it was a dream just as the bell goes signalling class. I let out a tired sigh and decide that I'd find Scott and Stiles and lunch and see if they'd accept my help again.

…

I walk into the school cafeteria and take a quick look around finding the two boys I was looking for as they just find their seats at a table. I received another text from Derek during class explaining that they guy that was attacked on the school bus was found and in hospital now. So, he was alive. That was good at least. It had to be the alpha that attacked him though.

"What makes you so sure that Derek has all the answers?" I hear Stiles ask as I get closer to their table.

I quickly pull out a chair and sit down beside the pale, lanky boy, "Because Derek can control himself on the full moon and Scott was running around not in control."

"Okay, what the hell?" Stiles exclaims as he turns to look at me, "Are you just everywhere?"

I shrug slightly and give a small nod as Scott continues as if he doesn't care that I've interrupted their talk, "I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."

I nod enthusiastically to Scott's solution, "Yes! You should cancel."

"No," Stiles shakes his head and gives me a pointed look, "You're not cancelling, you can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out."

I roll my eyes and go to open my mouth to talk to Scott about going to Derek for help when Lydia walks up to our table and sits her tray down across from me, "Figure what out?" Just as Lydia sits down a couple more people join the table and I roll my eyes as Allison sits down next Scott and they both smile at each other. Seriously, I was going to have my work cut out for me if I wanted to keep Allison out of the supernatural world.

"Get up," I hear someone say and I turn to my right and see Jackson is insisting that one of the lacrosse players get out of a seat that he's obviously labelled his own. I then internally groan when the chair beside me scrapes the floor as it's pulled out and Jake sits down next to me.

"Alexis," Jake whispers as he leans over to me way closer than necessary. The whole table settles down and I watch as Scott and Stiles both stare at each other in slight disbelief. I take it from their looks that it isn't a regular occurrence for them to have this many people to sit with at lunch.

"So, I heard it was some type of animal attack. Probably a cougar?" some boy sitting next to Lydia says throwing the conversation to the rest of us. I think his name was Danny.

Jackson shrugs, "I heard mountain lion."

I exhale and say flatly, "A cougar is a mountain lion," at the same time Lydia does. She follows it up with an unsure look saying, "Isn't it?"

"Who cares," Jackson says with a douche look on his face, "The guys probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway."

I scoff slightly and shake my head at Jackson's insensitive attitude as Stiles brings up a video of some updated news on the attack. The news reports that the guys name was Garrison Meyers. Scott explains that he knows the guy as a bus driver he used to see when he was travelling to visit his father.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun please?" Lydia slightly whines trying to move the conversation along, "Like, oh where we're going tomorrow night?" She turns to look at Allison and I watch as my sister freezes slightly unsure of where to take the conversation.

Lydia waits for Allison to respond but then says, "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night?"

Allison nods quickly and briefly looks at Scott, "Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do."

"Well, I am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos. So, if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun," Lydia demands looking at her boyfriend.

Scott turns to Allison and stutters out nervously, "Hanging out? Like, the four of us? Do you wanna hang out, like us and them?" Scott questions as Stiles starts making weird faces as he watches the encounter.

Allison shrugs slightly, "Yeah, I guess. Sounds fun." I chuckle quietly to myself. Allison did not want to hang out as a group. She was clearly originally planning a date with just her and Scott and Lydia has derailed the whole thing.

Lydia turns to me and says, "Lexi, you can come too. With Jake!"

I give Lydia a very annoyed look before turning to Jake seeing he was smirking at me, "Yeah, come on Lexi. Sounds fun," he winks at me and his hand drops below the table and he squeezes my knee tightly. I clench my jaw tightly and I shove his hand off my leg as Jackson complains in the background. I turn back to Stiles briefly and see he had seen what Jake had done and has a look of confusion and maybe concern as well.

"How bout bowling? You love to bowl," Lydia says trying to convince her boyfriend to actually do something with her for once.

Jackson rolls his eyes, "Yeah with actual competition."

"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison quips back baiting Jackson's obvious competitive side.

Jake's arm stretches out behind me and he rests it on the back of my chair behind my back as he joins the conversation, "Yeah come on Jackson. Lexi's pretty good at sport I hear. She plays a mean game of strip beer pong, according to some of the lacrosse boys."

I hear Allison cough slightly as she gives me a questioning look but I just ignore everyone's stares and give a warning look to Jake instead. He removes his arm from behind my back and holds them up in surrender.

"You can bowl right?" Allison asks Scott bringing everyone's attention back to them.

Scott shrugs slightly, "Um sort of."

"Is it sort of or yes?" Jackson teases the other boy and Scott looks slightly pissed off as he turns to Jackson, "Yes. In fact, I'm a great bowler."

My phone starts vibrating in my back pocket and I quickly get up and excuse myself from the group to answer it. I don't even look at the caller ID before answering, "Hello?"

"Hey," Derek's short reply comes through the other end, "Have you spoken to Scott about him talking to me?"

I let out a sigh, "No, but I know he's going bowling tomorrow night with my sister."

"So?" Derek says flatly, "What the hell has that got to do with anything?"

I groan and lean against the wall stopping in the middle of the staircase, "Nothing, I know! I haven't had a chance to talk to them about werewolf stuff because everyone keeps interrupting."

"You're a terrible bowler!" Stiles exclaims as they come down the stairs past me. I watch them turn down the hall and head down the next lot of stairs before talking to Derek, "They're on their own now. I'll call you back later."

I quickly hang up and rush after the two as Scott continues to whine about what he couldn't remember about last night, "How is this happening? I either killed a guy or I didn't. I ask Allison out on a date and now we're hanging out. I make first line and the team captain wants to destroy me, and now I'm gonna be late for work!"

Scott rushes off down the hallway and Stiles stops in his tracks calling out to his friend, "Wait, Scott you didn't answer… Am I attractive to gay guys?!" he calls out and shakes his head before turning around and bumping into me.

He lets out a surprised noise and stares at me for a moment, "Seriously? You really are just everywhere aren't you?!"

I nod and smile, "Yeah I am. Listen, stop telling Scott he can't trust Derek and I. We're the only ones that he should trust right now."

"What about me?" Stiles asks with a slight pout on his face and I roll my eyes, "And obviously he should keep his friends close too. But seriously. We just want to help Scott. He needs it."

I turn to walk away but Stiles hand reaches out and touches my shoulder. I turn back around and look at him expectantly and he nervously asks, "What's with that Jake guy and you?"

I shake my head, "Don't worry about it." I turn back around and head for my locker. I was just going to have to go see Derek later and tell him the bad news that I hadn't spoken to Scott at all today.

…

I pull up to the entrance of the preserve and start making my way on the running track that went just by the burnt down Hale house. I hear the sound of something making a small screeching noise and I turn around as Scott dismounts from his bike and walks up beside me. I look at him questioningly and he doesn't look at me as he says, "I'm coming to ask Derek for help."

I give him a small smile and nod, "That's good."

"You don't want me dating your sister, do you?" Scott asks suddenly after we walk along the path in silence for a few beats.

I open my mouth to say something and then shake my head. He nods slowly, "Is it because you think I'm dangerous."

I take a minute to think before I answer him, "Strangely enough, no. I think you'd be the opposite with Allison actually." Scott looks to me waiting for me to clarify what I was saying and I continue, "I think you would be very protective of her."

I pause again and continue, "But… You're a werewolf and Allison doesn't know about the supernatural. If she's dating you then she might eventually find out."

"Why do you know about the supernatural?" Scott asks after nodding along to my explanation to his question.

"I'm the eldest, so, that means I'm trained first," I say with a tired sigh, "It's kind of our duty to hunt the supernatural. I'd rather it be me than Allison."

Scott shakes his head slightly, "But you don't? You jumped in front of that arrow the night of the full moon."

"Yeah I did," I shrug nonchalantly as we slowly reach the outskirts of the clearing Derek's house sat in. I put my arm out in front of Scott and stop him as I see a police cruiser parked outside the house. The police officer was getting into his car though and getting ready to drive off. When it disappears from sight Scott and I step out of the tree line and look up at the house.

"Derek, I know you can hear me," Scott says keeping his voice calm and steady, "I need your help."

We both walk up to the house and step onto the front porch. The front door slowly creaks open and Derek steps out on the porch with us. I give him a small smug smile nodding to Scott showing that I had gotten him here. Derek ignores me and continues to keep eye contact with Scott.

"Okay, I know that I was part of you getting arrested and that we basically announced you being here to the hunters," Scott starts out with, "I also don't know what happened to your sister."

I turn to look at Scott with raised eyebrows and silently scold the boy for starting out asking for help this way but he continues, "But I think I did something last night. I had a dream about someone, but someone else got hurt. And it turns out that part of the dream might have actually happened."

"You think you attacked the driver?" Derek questions giving Scott a small shrug.

Scott raises his voice slightly getting annoyed at Derek's casualness to the situation, "Did you see what I did last night?"

"No," Derek curtly responds.

"Can you at least tell me the truth? Am I gonna hurt someone?" Scott asks with the desperation to know the answer to these questions evident in his voice.

Derek responds quickly and curtly again, "Yes." I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest staring at Derek frustratingly. This isn't how helping Scott was supposed to go. Derek isn't giving the poor kid anything.

"Could I kill someone?" Scott quickly asks, panic evident in his tone.

Derek raises his eyebrows slightly like the answer was obvious, "Yes?"

"Am I going to kill someone?" Scott asks sounding even more panicked and desperate than before.

Derek nods, "Probably." Scott's eyes dart around and he starts shaking his head as he moves to lean against the porch beams coming to terms with Derek's answers to the questions he was asking.

Derek turns to me and I give him a 'what the hell' look and he rolls his eyes and turns back to the young boy taking a couple steps closer to him, "Look, I can show you how to remember. I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon," Derek begins to explain, "But it's not gonna come for free."

"What do you want?" Scott sighs out while he continues to stare straight ahead.

"You'll find out," Derek cryptically responds, "But for now, I'm gonna give you what you want. Go back to the bus. Go inside. See it, feel it. Let your senses, your sight, smell, touch, let them remember for you."

I screw my face up in disbelief, "That's it? Just go back?"

Derek turns to me and gives me a slightly annoyed look before turning back to Scott, "Do you what to know what happened?"

"I just want to know if I hurt him," Scott says quietly as he lifts his head up to look at Derek.

Derek shakes his head, reading the expression on Scott's face and says, "No you don't. You want to know if you'll hurt her."

Scott drops his head again before he moves and start walking down the steps and back towards his bike sitting where he left it at the tree line. Scott turns his back to me and asks, "Are you coming with me?"

"I don't need to keep an eye on you 24/7 Scott," I say with a small chuckle, "I just want you to know you can trust me."

Scott nods and grabs his bike, riding off along the path. When he's disappeared, I turn to Derek and shake my head at him, "Seriously? You couldn't have just explained to him that you need help tracking the other werewolf because they're attacking people and killed your sister."

"He won't trust you if you act all shady like you just did," I say with an eye roll.

Derek turns to me and looks at me with raised eyebrows, "And he can trust you?"

"Um yes," I say slightly confused as to why Derek was suddenly questioning whether I could be trusted, "We want him to trust both of us, I thought that was the point of this partnership?"

Derek nods, "It is."

"Okay," I drawl out slowly and confusedly as I turn to step off the porch and head in the direction Scott had, "Look, I should probably let you know that my Dad and the other hunting family are planning on paying you a visit to give you a little message. I'll be there but they're testing whether I'm a traitor or not so don't do anything that'll make them think we know each other."

I turn back around to see if Derek had heard what I said and see that he's disappeared back inside the house. I let out an annoyed laugh and shake my head as I turn to leave but immediately step into someone. I look up and Derek's now standing in front of me staring down at me with his eyes keeping intense eye contact with mine.

I look at him confused slightly and he steps around me and heads back towards the front door of his house, "Thanks for the heads up."

I shake my head slightly in confusion of what just happened and begin the trek back to my car. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this visit, Derek wasn't exactly a conversational type of guy. I really needed to just focus on figuring out how we were going to get to the alpha instead of thinking about why I continued to feel drawn to Derek. I barely even knew the guy so it wasn't like I was being drawn to him in a romantic sense. I mean he's attractive and I'm not blind to that but there was some connection there with him and I could not for the life of me begin to explain why I was feeling it. However, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was being drawn to me too.

…

I stare out the window as my Dad follows behind the Calavera's SUV up ahead. Allison was out on her double date with Scott, Lydia and Jackson and I had been brought along for the hunting party that was going to confront Derek. I should feel a little more excited though because after this I wouldn't have to go along to these hunting parties anymore. It might make it a little harder to stay in the loop about the hunter side of things but I knew that my parents would expect more of me now that there we were working with the Calavera's as well. And it was obvious I wasn't going to get along with Jake either so it was just better to not be involved anymore. Especially before they decided to call in reinforcements if this alpha situation continued. That would mean seeing my Aunt Kate again.

"Are you ready?" my Dad asks as we slowly pull into a gas station and I look out the front windscreen and see Derek is casually filling up his car.

I turn to my Dad and nod, "Yes. After this though I'm done."

"If that's really what you want," my Dad says with a hint of disappointment behind his eyes. I know he had wanted to be the one to bring me into the supernatural world and teach my how to be a hunter but that's not how things worked out.

We both climb out of the car and as everyone gets into position watching Derek carefully he puts the gas pump back after filling the tank. I see his eyes briefly dart over to me but they don't linger long enough to be of concern. I look over to Jake and see him watching me carefully as my Dad walks over to Derek's black Camaro.

"Nice ride," Chris says as he place his hand on the hood of the car, "Black cars, though. Very hard to keep clean. I would definitely suggest a little more maintenance."

Chris grabs the windscreen cleaner out and begins wiping over the already crystal clear windscreen of Derek's car, "If you have something this nice, you want to take care of it right?"

Chris looks over to me for a moment before continuing, "Personally, I'm very protective of the things I love. That's something I learnt from my family. You don't have much of that these days. Do you?" Chris questions as he finishes wiping over the screen.

I watch as Derek's hands ball into fists in anger and I can feel my own body tense in anger as well. I couldn't believe that my Dad was saying these things, toying with Derek and bringing up his family that was killed tragically in the fire.

Derek let's his hand relax again after a moment and Chris nods, "There we go. You can actually look through your windshield now. See how that makes everything much clearer?"

I roll my eyes slightly and I see Jake raise his eyebrows at me slightly while my Dad begins to walk away. Derek speaks up before we leave though saying, "You forgot to check the oil."

Jake chuckles slightly with a smirk on his face and nods, "Check the man's oil then." One of the other hunters walk over to Derek's car and smash in the passenger side window. I shake my head and turn to leave when Jake's Dad, I think it is, clears his throat.

I'm abruptly turned back around and Jake has grabbed hold of my arms forcing me to kneel on the ground in front of me. My Dad starts to protest and ask what is happening when Jake pulls a hand gun out of his waistband and presses it into the back of my head.

My eyes widen and I turn to look at my Dad, "What the hell?! What's going on?!" I exclaim holding my hands slightly out in front of me as some of the hunters have to hold my Dad back.

"We've got some concerns about your daughter, Chris," Jake's father begins to explain, "It's nothing personal. We'd just like to know if she's working with Hale."

I shake my head quickly, "Why the hell would I work with a Hale? This is insane!"

"She's right, this is insane! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chris exclaims trying to pull free from the hunters' grip and get to his daughter.

Jake chuckles from behind me and I can hear the safety click off from the gun. I can feel my heart beating hard, practically leaping from my chest as I close my eyes hearing Jake's finger begin to press down on the trigger. I hear a click noise and flinch slightly but feel nothing. I open my eyes slowly and realise that the gun wasn't loaded. I look over to Derek and I know that I have tears forming in my eyes.

"Why would I care if you killed one of your own?" Derek says in a monotone voice staring at the hunters and then looking down on me.

Jake's Dad nods to the hunters that have hold of my Dad and he quickly rushes over pulling me up off the ground. I pull out of my Dad's grip and shove Jake hard enough to make him stumble. He catches himself quickly and comes back towards me angrily and wraps his hand around my throat lifting me up off the ground.

"Jake, that's enough," his Dad tells Jake signalling for him to let go of me. Jake's grip loosens and I feel my feet hit the ground again and I stumble back into my Dad's grip.

"If you ever do anything to hurt my daughter again, this hunting relationship is done and you can leave Beacon Hills," my Dad threatens as he practically shoves me into the passenger side and we quickly drive off.

I reach up rubbing my neck softly and say quietly, "I'm done. That was it. I'm not a part of this anymore."

"No," my Dad responds authoritatively.

I quickly turn my head to look at him and exclaim, "You agreed. You said I was done after this if that's what I wanted."

"That was before that boy attacked you like that!" my Dad yells back, "You need this, I need you to be able to defend yourself."

I let out a humourless laugh and shake my head in disbelief, "I can defend myself! I've been training since I was 9 years old Dad! Kate started training me at 9!"

The entire car goes silence and my Dad shakes his head. He still didn't believe me when I tried to tell him how long I'd known about werewolves for. He still continued to believe what Kate told him the night I was almost killed by a werewolf.

"Let me out," I say quietly. My Dad doesn't make a move to pull over and I yank my seatbelt off and yell again, "Let me out, please!"

He pulls the car over and I throw the car door open as soon as we stop, "I'll stay at a friend's place tonight. I just need some space."

My Dad goes to argue but he decides against it and lets out a loud breath. He nods slowly and I close the car door allowing him to drive off in the direction of home. I stand there on the side of the road for a moment before screaming out as loud as I can in frustration and anger. I take in a shaky deep breath as run my hands through my hair shakily as well. I didn't want to be part of hunting anymore but I knew my Dad was right. If I didn't stay in the loop and continue the performance of a good Argent hunter then it gave Jake and his family all the more reason to keep testing me. I was in less danger being on their side. Like Kate always said, know thy enemy.

I hear the rumble of a car approach and I turn my attention to the road as Derek's Camaro pulls up beside me. His passenger side window is all smashed in so he leans across his console and nods his head for me to get into the car. I look around quickly seeing no other car on the road and open the car door sliding into the front seat. I wince slightly and lift my leg up seeing a small piece of glass sticking out of my thigh.

"Sorry," Derek grumbles out and he reaches over pulling the glass from my leg. As soon as his fingers graze my thigh, my cheeks turn red and my entire body feels as though it's come alive from that one touch. I watch Derek's movements closely as he reaches into his car console and pulls out a tissue. He turns back to the small amount of blood that had started to drip across my thigh and presses the tissue onto my skin. I move my hand and take over holding the tissue on my leg, clearing my throat, "Uh, thanks…"

"You're welcome," Derek shakes his head almost as if coming out of a trance and he realises what he was doing. He moves his car back into drive and we head off down the road.

After a few beats of very awkward silence, I speak up, "Thanks for trusting me. And not trying to attack the hunters that were testing me."

"It wasn't easy," Derek says and I can see his knuckles tightening around the steering wheel, "That young hunter, Jake. He's attracted to you, I could smell it."

I roll my eyes slightly and shake my head, "He has a funny way of showing it then. Actually," I begin to think about it a little more, "It's kind of concerning that he's threatened me multiple times now but wants to fuck me."

I hear a small growl erupt from Derek's side of the car and I turn and see Derek's eyes are now glowing electric blue. We pull into the hospital car park and he throws the car into park before taking a moment to breathe in and out very slowly.

"Derek?" I question softly. I couldn't tell if he was just angry at me or losing control. I probably should be getting away from me as quick as I could but instead I felt a strong urge to reach out and place my hand on his shoulder.

He takes another moment before he lifts his head up again and his eyes are back to normal, "Just… Don't say that around me."

"Say what?" I ask confusedly, "That he wants to sle-"

"Yes!" Derek growls out again, "Don't say that."

I nod slowly and give him a small reassuring smile, "Okay… I won't say it." He nods in thanks and then tells me to wait in the car before getting out. I let out a slightly annoyed sigh and slump back down in my seat. I couldn't help the small smile that was creeping onto my face as I thought about what Derek meant just then. I didn't want to jump to conclusions but from what I could gather it sounded like he couldn't stand the thought of me being with another guy.

On the one hand, I wanted to get mad that Derek thought he could control who I was attracted to. It was incredibly controlling and possessive of him. But on the other hand, my heart was leaping out of my chest in excitement thinking that Derek was in any way attracted to me and wanted me. I let out a groan and roll my eyes as I bring myself back to reality. I barely knew the guy, we were working together to stop the alpha and to help Scott and he had to be 6-8 years older than me. He wasn't going to waste his time with an 18-year old sophomore that was also an Argent.

I always did this. I always went for the bad boy type. And look where that got me last time with Aiden. I shake my head of the memories that came with that name and quickly straighten up when I see Derek coming back over to the car. He gets in and I can see his noticeably shaken up by whatever he went into the hospital for.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I quickly put my seatbelt on while Derek starts the car again. He pulls out of the parking lot and we head in the direction of the preserve.

He shakes his head, "Nothing."

"Derek," I push carefully, "Did you see the guy that was attacked?"

Derek nods in response and he lets out a frustrated breath, "He's dead." I inhale sharply and I turn back to the road. So, that was another person dead because of this alpha. After what had happened tonight with the other hunting family and now another death, I knew exactly what my Dad would be doing next. Calling Kate.

"I can drop you home after I get a couple of things from my place," Derek says quietly as we turn off onto the dirt road that leads through the preserve.

I shake my head, "No, I'm not staying at home tonight. You can take me to the nearest motel." Derek turns and looks at me for a moment but then nods. We pull up to his house and I look out at the burnt shell of the place that I knew once would've been magnificently beautiful.

"Can I come in?" I ask unsure whether or not he would want me to step foot into his family home. Derek nods in response and we both get out of the car. I follow behind him closely as we walk up the porch steps and into the house. He instantly makes his way up the stairs and I take a moment to look around at the place. I run my hand along the railing of the staircase and my heart twangs in sadness as I think of Derek and his family growing up here. Before the fire…

The door bursts open behind me and I turn around quickly seeing Scott barrel into the house. He's breathing heavily and I can practically see waves of anger come off him as he looks around the house and his eyes land on me.

"Derek!" he exclaims angrily, "I know you're here! I know what you did!"

I can hear the floorboards creak above me on the second floor and Derek's voice echoes lightly through the house, "I didn't do anything."

"You killed him!" Scott yells and he starts walks slowly towards me.

I take a step back instinctively and shake my head, "He died, Scott."

"Like your sister died," Scott replies.

Derek's voice fills the house again, "My sister was missing. I came here looking for her."

"You found her," Scott nods as he looks upstairs knowing Derek was up there.

"I found her in pieces, being used as bait to catch me!" Derek exclaims louder than before and from his tone I can tell he's getting angry at Scott now.

I hold my hands out in front of me as Scott's eyes flash golden while he slowly stops directly in front of me, "Scott, I don't want to hurt you. So, let's stop and talk about this."

His clawed hand comes at me so fast I have no time to react and his shoved me into the side of the staircase, "I think Derek, you killed them both. And now you and Lexi are trying to get me to trust you. I'm gonna tell everyone, starting with the sheriff."

I roll my eyes and bring my knee up into Scott's groin. He doubles over in pain and I walk towards the front door and away from him, "Seriously, Scott. Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"

Scott's head whips up in my direction and his face has completely transformed. He growls loudly and tries to come after me but Derek's movement upstairs catches my attention and he jumps down the stairs moving directly in front of me. He catches Scott as the newly turned werewolf runs at him and throws him to the ground. Derek turns back to me and tells me to move. I roll my eyes slightly and move to sit on the steps of the staircase. If they needed to sort out their differences this way then I wasn't going to stop them.

Scott gets back up easily and tosses Derek through the wall and into the next room, "Huh, that was cute…" I hear Derek say casually and shake my head slightly with a small smile on my face. Scott charges into the next room at the sound of Derek's growl and they start fighting again. After numerous smashing and banging mixed with the sound of both Derek and Scott's growls, I can hear Scott's grunts of pain. I can only assume that means they're both finished and Scott's probably ready to listen.

I get up off the staircase and walk into the room they were fighting in and take a guess that it was originally the living room. Derek looks over to me briefly before turning back to Scott who was on the ground panting, "I didn't kill him. Neither of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine."

"This?" Scott exclaims starting to get angry again, "This is all your fault! You ruined my life!"

Derek shakes his head and stares back at the young teen angrily as well, "No I didn't."

"You're the one who bit me," Scott continues to push and I roll my eyes at the young boy that just didn't seem to get it yet. To be fair, this all could have been avoided if Derek had just explained it properly in the first place.

Derek shakes his head again, "No, I'm not."

Scott's face fills with confusion as he starts begins to question what Derek is saying, "What?!"

"I'm not that one that bit you," Derek finally says and Scott's eyes widen slightly in shock. He touches the scratch marks that were on his t-shirt and he closes his eyes a couple of times. I look to Derek confused slightly but he's watching Scott.

Scott falls backwards onto the couch after a moment and he slowly looks back up at Derek, "There's another."

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner folks," I tease slightly trying to lift the tension in the room. Both werewolves ignore me and Derek nods continuing, "It's called an alpha. It's the most dangerous of our kind."

"You and I, we're betas," Derek explains, "This thing is more powerful, more animal than either of us. My sister came here looking for him, now I'm trying to find him. But I don't think I can do it without you."

Scott takes all of this in and shakes his head as comes to terms with what Derek's saying, "Why me?"

"Because he's the one that bit you," Derek states, "You're part of his pack. It's you Scott. You're the one he wants."

Scott looks over to me briefly before he stands up and shakes his head, "I didn't want any of this," he says quietly.

"I know," Derek nods sounding almost sympathetic, "We'll keep in touch. But lay low. Don't bring any attention to yourself." Scott nods looking defeated as he makes his way to the front door.

Before Scott leaves, turns around and calls out my name, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

I shake my head and chuckle, "It's okay Scott. You barely touched me." He nods looking unconvinced as he walks out the front door. I turn back to Derek and he's looking at me with a slightly angered look, "It's not really okay, you know. He could've hurt you. He doesn't know his strength yet."

"I know," I say with a shrug, "But it's not going to be helpful to make him feel bad and letting him beat himself up over it."

Derek nods in understanding and lets out a tired sigh, "You can stay here if you'd like? It's not much but there's a couple of mattresses still good upstairs."

"Anywhere but home will be fine for tonight," I say back with an equally tired sigh, "Are you sure though? I don't want to intrude."

He shakes his head and nods for me to follow him upstairs, "It's fine." I smile to myself as I follow after him and we make our way upstairs. He leads me to one of the rooms and I thank him for looking out for me tonight. He shrugs off the thanks casually before heading out into the hallway to his own room I assume. I lie down on the mattress on the floor and pull the blanket over me. Strangely enough, I felt safe and at home in this house. I just wasn't sure if it was the house or knowing that there was a certain someone in the room next door.

…

Derek stops just outside the room he had shown Lexi into. He could hear her settle down and after a few minutes her breathing evened out and he could tell she was asleep. He pokes his head back around to look into the room and his eyes soften seeing how relaxed and beautiful she looked when she was sleeping. Derek shakes his head and tries to ignore these thoughts again. He continued to think about the young girl in more ways than just their working partnership to stop the alpha. He couldn't help it.

He had to keep reminding himself that he barely knew the girl and that she was an Argent, for crying out loud. Already, he could sense the drama that she would bring into his life if they continued to interact with each other. He couldn't stay away though. He knew that. And he knew that he was safer continuing their partnership and so was she.

...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Magic Bullet**

…

"Lexi," I hear faintly as I screw my eyes shut tighter. I was so incredibly tired lately because I'd been out tracking the alpha the past few nights. Tonight, Derek told me to stay home and get some rest and he'd handle the hunting and tracking.

I groan softly feeling the blankets torn off my body and I hear my name called out again, a little louder this time, "Alexis." I open my eyes and blink a few times before I focus in on the figure standing beside my bed.

"Alexis," my Dad says again growing impatient with me.

I kick my legs out annoyed and sit up on my elbows, "What?"

"It's Kate," he says quietly, "She's run into some trouble. We have to go meet her."

I let out another groan and fall back down onto my pillow. He tells me to be downstairs in 5 minutes and leaves me in bed again but not before turning my bedroom light on. I get up begrudgingly and pull on whatever clothes are sitting on the floor. I slide my combat boots on and look down at my outfit and snort. I had put on my flannelette pyjama pants and paired it with shirt with a wolf on it. I make my way downstairs and wait at the front door for my Dad. He comes out from the living room and I reach for the door handle ready to leave.

"What's going on?" Allison's voice calls out sleepily from the upstairs landing and Dad and I both look up to see her looking down at us confused.

My Dad give her a small smile, "Your Aunt Kate just texted. We're heading out to pick her up."

"It's 2 in the morning is everything okay?" Allison asks concerned. I didn't have the best relationship with our Aunt anymore but Allison absolutely loved her.

Chris nods and reassures his youngest daughter, "Yeah, yeah she's just having a little car trouble."

"It's not serious is it?" Allison asks and I groan internally wishing she'd just go back to bed so we could get out there and then get back home as quick as possible.

I shake my head and give Allison a reassuring smile, "It's just a flat tyre. Go back to bed Ally." Allison nods finally and turns to go back to her room. Chris and I quickly get out to the car and he pulls out of the driveway heading in the direction of what was the industrial district of Beacon Hills.

We ride in silence and I see my Dad look over at my attire a couple of times throughout the trip. I roll my eyes and speak up, "You gave me five minutes and it's 2 in the morning. I'm obviously not going to slap on an appropriate hunting outfit."

He doesn't say anything and I let out a sigh, "What'd she say on the phone?"

"She texted and said the alpha tried to attack her," Chris explains quickly as we pull up next to a large empty warehouse. I look ahead and see Kate coming towards our car with an assault rifle in her arms.

I look to Dad with raised eyebrows and he shakes his head angrily as we both get out. We walk over to Kate and she chuckles lightly looking at my shirt. We may not have got along anymore but we had a similar sense of humour I guess.

"Get in," Chris says angrily to his sister and I cross my arms over my chest with a small smug smile on my face. I knew my Dad didn't agree with Kate's hunting ways and I knew that was part of the reason he wished he'd been the one to introduce me to the supernatural world.

"Not even a hello?" Kate sasses back to her brother, "Nice to see you?"

Chris shakes his head and looks around carefully, "All I've got at the moment is 'please put the assault rifle away before someone notices'."

Kate rolls her eyes and exhales humourlessly, "That's the brother I love… Chris, there were two of them."

"The alpha?" Chris questions but Kate shakes her head, "I don't know. But one of them tried to kill me."

Chris sighs, "One of them if going to lead us to the other and he can't do that if he's dead."

"I can't help kill either of them if one of them kills me first," Kate counters back and I roll my eyes. Kate must spot me and she calls out to me, "Hey. Don't roll your eyes at me. I've heard you're causing trouble with the Calavera family in town."

I groan loudly and throw my arms out in annoyance, "Of course, because everything is somehow my fault. You've been in town all of five minutes and the alpha's already trying to kill you," I quip back.

Kate smirks at me challengingly and Chris brings her attention back to him, "How long will it take?"

"I'd give him 48 hours," Kate shrugs estimating how long whoever it was she shot had left to live, "If that."

I turn back around and walk over to the car getting my phone out quickly trying to contact the resident werewolf in my life. If Derek really was out tracking the alpha tonight then it could be him that was shot. If we were lucky then maybe Kate hit the alpha and this mess would be over. But I didn't like our chances.

…

I walk through the school hallways glancing down at my phone every few steps as I make my way to my locker. I hadn't received any response from Derek since last night and when we got back home I didn't get a wink of sleep again. I had already seen Scott wandering the halls with Stiles so that meant he was okay and didn't get shot last night.

It had to have been Derek. He would've responded to me by now if he was okay. I look up ahead and see the hallway is starting to empty out slowly. I catch a familiar figure up ahead and see that Derek is talking to Jackson. I quicken my pace seeing Derek move to walk away from the young teen when Jackson grabs a hold of his shoulder to stop him.

Derek immediately turns around and grabs Jackson by the neck shoving him into the lockers, "Derek!" I call out getting his attention but he let's go of Jackson and walks off down the hall again. I groan in annoyance and pass Jackson who is holding his neck in pain.

"You know him too?" Jackson asks looking at me slightly surprised. I give him a small shrug and continue to chase after Derek. I turn the corner into the next hallway and stop in my tracks seeing it was empty. I knew he came this way but he'd disappeared so quickly now.

I walk forward a few steps then look to my left and see he's leaning against next to the lockers with his eyes shut. I walk over to him and reach out placing my hand on his arm, "Derek?"

His eyes shoot open and he reaches forward grabbing a hold of me tightly and spinning us around. He shoves me into the wall and stares at me with electric blue eyes. He blinks a couple of times before his eyes widen and he let's go of me just as quickly as he had grabbed me, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he says quietly.

The bell rings signalling the end of the school day and Derek flinches as he tries to cover his ears from the loud noise. I look at him more closely and see he's looking paler than usual and he's covered in a light layer of sweat. He also has dark circles under his eyes.

"Derek?" I ask softly to get his attention, "Did you get shot?"

Derek nods in response as he leans his head back against the wall and his face contorts in pain while he holds his arm. I feel my stomach drop realising that since being shot last night it's been over 12 hours. Kate said less than 48 hours but Derek looked like he wouldn't even reach the 24 hour mark.

"Okay, I'm gonna get you out of here and then I'm going to find the bullet that did this," I say as I reach forward and pull Derek's uninjured arm around my shoulders. His weight shifts onto me slightly and I stumble at the extra weight.

He shakes his head as we begin walking towards to the exit to the parking lot, "Scott's going to study at your place. He needs to get the bullet."

"Derek," I say disapprovingly, "I know where it is. It makes sense that I get it."

Derek nods and continues to breathe more heavily from the pain, "Exactly. It makes sense that you get it so who do you think they're going to blame when they find out there's no dead werewolf."

I clench my jaw slightly in annoyance. He was right. I knew he was right. If I was at the house this afternoon, they would know who took the bullet and saved the werewolf Kate shot. I had to stay far away from the house until we saved Derek.

"Fine," I grumble out finally as we step out of the school and struggle down the front steps, "You're right. We need to find Scott then."

Derek untangles from my hold and walks forward out into the middle of the road. My eyes widen as I watch him hold his hand out in front of Stiles jeep that was slowly coming for him. Stiles slams on the brakes at the last minute and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. Derek collapses on the ground in front of the jeep and Stiles climbs out, meeting Scott next to the injured werewolf now on the ground.

Scott kneels down in front of Derek and I watch as the both start talking to him. I look around the parking lot in hopes that I won't see Jake watching the scene unfold. I exhale in relief seeing he hasn't made it out of the school yet. I quickly rush over to the group of guys and begin to help Scott get Derek up off the ground. He groans and the continuing sound of car horns with everyone being pissed at Stiles holding up traffic.

We get Derek in the car and he turns to Scott, "I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used."

"I know what bullet they used," I say quickly and turn to Scott, "You just need to find it in the house."

Scott looks at me with an incredulous look, "How the hell am I supposed to do that? Why can't Lexi do it?" Scott asks turning back to Derek.

"Because she's an Argent, she's with them. They can't know that she's working with us too," Derek explains and I watch nervously seeing his face has a clear expression of worry.

Scott shakes his head a scoffs slightly, "Why should I help you?"

"Because you need me," Derek almost pleads with the teen.

Scott finally holds his arms out in defeat and nods, "Fine. I'll try." I silently thank the universe that Scott agreed to help and quickly rush over to the other side of the jeep. I push past Stiles quickly and climb over the front seat into the back.

Stiles grumbles as he gets in after me and Scott calls out to his friend, "Hey, get him out of here."

"I hate you for this so much," Stiles complains as he starts his jeep up again and we finally start moving the traffic again.

Stiles looks back at me in the backseat using the rear view mirror and sighs, "Seriously, I don't really see why you can't get the bullet. It'd be so much quicker and this would be over."

I roll my eyes at his whining, "Look, I would do it but it's too risky. The Calavera hunters already have suspicions about me."

"Jake?! Jake Calavera is a hunter as well?!" Stiles exclaims as he turns his head fully to look at me with wide eyes.

I nod, "Yeah he is. He's probably the main reason his family and a few other hunters don't trust me."

"Wait, so is that why you were acting weird around him that day in the cafeteria?" Stiles asks casually. I knew it had been bugging him what he saw Jake do to me that day and he'd obviously been dying to ask me about it ever since.

Derek's head whips around to face me, "What did he do? Did he touch you?"

"Yeah," Stiles says quickly while I try to get in and say, "No."

Derek's eyes flash electric blue again and he growls lowly. Stiles spazzes out next to him and exclaims, "Whoa, what the hell was that?"

"Nothing," I direct to Stiles and then I soften my turn when talking to Derek, "Derek, it's fine. It wasn't anything."

Stiles scoffs and shakes his head, "Wasn't anything? He literally put his hand on your knee and you clearly were uncomfortable with it."

I whack Stiles on the back of the head while Derek lets out another low growl, "Jesus Stiles. Take the hint and shut up!"

Stiles rubs the back of his head and pouts back at me while I rest my hand on Derek's shoulder and squeeze it softly, "Derek, it's fine. It's nothing I can't handle." The car goes silent and I listen as Derek's breathing slows down after a bit and he's calmed down again.

Derek starts taking his jacket off and Stiles looks down at his phone groaning at the response Scott has given him, "Try not to bleed out on my seats! We're almost there," Stiles complains again.

"Almost where?" Derek questions and I watch as his head tilts to the side slightly and he rests his head on my hand on his shoulder.

Stiles exhales loudly, "Your house," he deadpans like it should be obvious.

"What?" Derek responds quickly and he lifts his head back up again, "No, you can't take me there."

I slide my hand over Derek's shoulder and up his neck to run my fingers through his hair softly, "I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles questions the werewolf next to him.

"Not when I can't protect myself," Derek explains getting just as annoyed at Stiles as he was with him.

Stiles pulls over to the side of the ride and turns the car off, "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmmm? Are you dying?"

"Not yet," Derek sighs out softly, "I have a last resort."

I quickly interject before Stiles has a chance to open his mouth again, "If Scott can't find it then I'll get it. And don't try and argue with me Derek, if it means them questioning my loyalty again I can handle it."

Derek lifts rolls up his sleeve and reveals the bleeding bullet wound in his arm. Stiles groans sickeningly and almost gags, "Oh my god! What is that? Ugh is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out," Stiles rambles as he tries to avoid looking at the wound.

"Start the car. Now," Derek demands and I continue trying to keep him calm by playing with his hair. I see Stiles look at me slightly funny when he notices what I'm doing and I move my hand from Derek's hair and lean back into my seat.

Stiles shakes his head, "I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look!" Stiles challenges the already frustrated werewolf, "In fact, I think if I wanted to I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."

"Start the car," Derek begins sound even more frustrated and angry at the teen, "Or I'm gonna rip your throat out… With my teeth."

Stiles stares at Derek for a moment with his mouth wide open before he caves and starts his car up again. Derek's head turns back to me and he rolls his eyes gesturing slightly to Stiles. I chuckle lightly and shake my head. He turns back to face the road in front of us and I can see him close his eyes and lean his head back on the seat. After a few minutes, it sounds like he's fallen asleep and Stiles starts talking to me, "So, are you and Derek a thing? Is that why you're going rogue from the hunters?"

I shake my head, "No. I was already rogue before I met Derek." It was true. I had stopped looking at my family's business through rose-coloured glasses right after my first hunting trip with Kate. I've been fighting against my parents and our family's 'job' since just before I turned 16.

"So, you are a thing?" Stiles questions.

I shake my head again and give him an annoyed look, "No. We're working together to help Scott and stop the alpha."

"Right," Stiles drawls out, "So, how come Allison doesn't know about werewolves? And have you ever shot a gun? Wait, have you killed a werewolf before?"

Stiles continues to bombard me with questions and I finally groan out loudly and rub my temples softly, "Stiles! Enough with the questions! Too much."

"Yeah… Sorry," Stiles pauses for a moment before apologising to me.

I let out a deep breath, "No, it's okay. Just slow down. Take a breath," I say with a small chuckle. He smiles back at me and continues to drive us around in silence. I suppose Scott and Stiles weren't so bad. They were idiots sometimes but they were actually doing really well with discovering there's a whole supernatural world out there that's only supposed to exist in books and movies. And I knew that it wasn't easy for them to trust Derek with his people skills but they were trying.

When it finally gets dark, Stiles pulls over to the side of the road again and dials Scott's number, "What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles begins the phone call and his harsh tone causes Derek's head to lift up and he looks over to the spazzy teen annoyed.

I roll my eyes and try to listen in the what Scott was saying on the other end, "Take him somewhere, anywhere?" Scott's muffled voice comes out loud enough for me to hear.

"And by the way, he's starting to smell," Stiles complains completely ignoring the fact that Derek was sitting right next to him, "Like death!"

There's a long pause on the other end of the phone before I hear Scott instruct his friend where to go, "Take him to the animal clinic."

"What about your boss?" Stiles questions. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought to mention it. But then, I would've had to explain how I knew it was okay that we use it and how I knew where the spare key was.

Scott continues talking over the other end of the phone, "He's gone by now. There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."

Stiles sighs out tiredly and hands the phone over to Derek, "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you."

Derek grabs the phone and I tap his shoulder telling him to put it on speaker phone. He does so and when he speaks I can hear just how bad he's deteriorated since we got in the car, "Did you find it?"

"How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million!" Scott whispers frustratingly through the phone, "If you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?"

Scott's voice comes through again quietly, "I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"Hey dipshit," I call out from the backseat, "How's this sound? The alpha called you out against your will and he will do it again. Except next time, you either kill with him or you get killed."

Derek nods agreeing with me, "So, if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

Derek hands the phone back to me and I sigh, "Listen, Scott. You need to find a way to get into my Aunt's room. I can guarantee the bullet will be in there. When you find the box text us the scribing on it and I'll know if you've found the right one."

"Fine," Scott groans out and he ends the call. I toss Stiles phone into the front seat again and he begrudgingly starts up his jeep. We make it to the animal clinic after a 10 minute drive and Stiles gets out of the jeep to go open up the back door.

I climb over the seat and sit down next to Derek, "Hey. Scott has another 15 minutes and if he's not here I'm going to get the bullet."

"If they see you at home they'll know it was you," Derek pants out and he shakes his head.

I reach over and rest my palm gently on his forehead before tracing my hand down the side of his face and resting it softly on his cheek, "We can't worry about that right now. You were right. Scott needs you and I'm gonna need you too if we have any chance of stopping the alpha."

Derek lifts his head up to give me a small nod and I quickly climb out of the car to meet him around on the passenger side. I open the door and reach into the jeep trying to guide Derek out of the car carefully so I don't hurt his injured arm. When he jumps down from the jeep, we stumble slightly but then recover quickly as I help him through the back door of the clinic. He slumps down on a pile of dog food while I turn around and look at Stiles expectantly.

Stiles looks up from his phone and his gaze flicks between the both of us, "Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?"

I nod my head quickly and smile, "Yes! That's the bullet. It's a rare form of wolfsbane. He needs to bring it to us."

"Why?" Stiles questions.

I lean down and help Derek up off the ground again and he breathes out tiredly, "Because I'm gonna die without it."

Stiles leads the way into the clinic and Derek reaches out grabbing Stiles' shoulder for more support as I struggle to keep him upright. Stiles flicks the lights on and Derek starts taking his shirt off to reveal his arm that has gotten much worse since earlier.

Stiles screws his face up in disgust and groans, "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of."

"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me," Derek pants out as he looks down at his arm.

Stiles shakes his head and sarcastically says, "Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"

I shove Stiles a little and he looks at me annoyed. Derek turns to the cupboards and grabs something out before slapping it down on the table. My eyes widen at the sight of the small electronic saw and Derek nods at it, "Last resort. You're going to cut off my arm."

Stiles flails about beside me and dry retches, "Yeah, I'm gonna see if I can get through to Scott."

He quickly hightails it out of the room and I look up at Derek and shake my head, "Derek, I can't."

"You can," he nods sliding it across to me and he moves around the room looking for something, "It'll heal if it works."

"If?" I squeak out stepping back from the table, "You're not even sure if it'll work?"

Derek finds a tourniquet and starts trying to wrap it around his arm. He struggles for a minute or so and I walk around to him and gently stop him. He stops and looks up at me with his eyes filled with what I think looks like fear. He was scared.

I tie off the tourniquet as gently as possible and rest my hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to get the bullet now." I go to turn away and make my exit but Derek's hand wraps around my forearm. He turns me around slowly and somehow manages to lift me up onto the steel examination table.

My breath hitches in my throat as Derek leans forward slowly and rests his forehead against mine. His uninjured arm wraps around my back and he pulls my body closer into his. My heart was pounding in my chest and Derek' breaths were quickening as well. I slowly move my arms to rest over his shoulders and I bring my hands to the back of his neck and into his hair like I did in the car.

I can hear Stiles footsteps coming back towards us but I can't bring myself to break this moment. I was waiting for Derek to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me. But he was just holding onto me so gently and the rawness of affection made me never want to move from this moment ever.

"Okay- Jesus Christ, what the hell?!" Stiles exclaims as he bursts into the room. Derek blinks a couple of times before letting go of me quickly and stepping back. I slide of the examination table quickly and look over to Stiles feeling incredibly embarrassed.

Stiles takes another moment before he shakes his head of what he had just seen, "Okay, I don't know if I can do this. And I can't get a hold of Scott."

"Why not?" Derek grunts out frustratingly. I couldn't tell if it was more because he was sick of Stiles complaining or if he had interrupted us in the middle of whatever that was.

Stiles' face is screwed up in slight horror as he stares at the bone saw and Derek's arm, "Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone and especially the blood!"

"You faint at the sight of blood," Derek guffaws at the young teen and his gaze flicks over to me every so often, almost as if he's checking to see that I'm still there.

He sighs and shakes his head finally, "Alright fine. How about this?" Derek begins to say to Stiles, "Either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head."

"Okay, you know, I'm so not buying your threats anymore," Stiles tries to challenge the agitated, injured werewolf and Derek reaches across the table and grabs Stiles by the collar.

Stiles changes his mind very quickly again, "All right, bought, sold, totally, I'll do it," he rambles off while Derek starts to double over the table. He moves his head to the side and throws up some black liquid onto the floor.

Stiles screws his face up in disgust as he tries to get out of Derek's grip away from the black vomit, "Holy God! What the hell is that?!"

"It's my body, it's trying to heal itself," Derek pants out in explanation as he tries to straighten up.

Stiles sounds as if he's holding his breath and says, "Well it's not doing a very good job of it."

"Now, you gotta do it now," Derek demands and he slides the bone saw over to Stiles.

Stiles mouth gapes open and he goes to pick it up but then looks to me desperately. I let out a sigh and shove Stiles out of the way grabbing the bone saw, "Alright. I can do this," I say to myself more than anyone else because I could do this. I had to do this. Scott didn't come through and now we were out of time.

Derek gives me a nod letting me know it was okay. Stiles is in the background making a lot of noise for someone who isn't cutting of Derek's arm. I take a deep breath and go to turn the bone saw on when I hear Scott call out, "Stiles?"

Stiles and I both look at each other with relief flooding our faces as we turn to the door and Scott comes running in. Scott's eyes widen and he looks at the scene in front of him that was literally out of a horror movie. I drop the saw quickly and let out a breath of relief, "Oh thank god."

"What the hell are you doing?!" Scott exclaims. Stiles chuckles nervously and smiles in relief, "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."

Derek immediately turns to Scott, "Did you get it?"

Scott nods and pulls the bullet out of his pocket handing it to Derek. Stiles asks, "What are you gonna do with it?"

And just as Derek begins to explain he collapses in a heap on the ground and the bullet rolls out from his grip and under some shelving. I move fast and kneel down beside Derek feeling around his neck and wrist for a pulse. My hands start to shake as I realise that I can't find a pulse and that if it's there it's incredibly weak.

Stiles kneels down beside me and starts trying to coax Derek awake, "Derek? Come, on. Wake up!" Scott continues to struggle over reaching the bullet and Stiles looks to me panicked, "What the hell are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" I exclaim feeling just as helpless and lost as what Stiles did right now. I look back down at Derek.

"I got it! I got it!" Scott exclaims excitingly as he brings the bullet out of where it had rolled to and he looks over at Stiles and I.

I let out a nervous breath and ball my hand into a fist, "Okay, Derek please don't kill me for this." I say but before I can do it Stiles punches the unconscious werewolf and Derek's eyes burst open. Scott and I quickly help him up off the ground and Derek grabs the bullet and pulls it apart. The three of us watch on as Derek burns the gun powder from the bullet and shoves it into the open wound on his arm. He starts screaming in pain and collapses to the floor again but it looks as though the powder is doing something as the black arms on his arm slowly start to disappear.

Scott and Stiles grab onto each other as Derek's screams and growls start to subside, "That was awesome!" Stiles exclaims, fist-bumping in the air. Scott and I both look at Stiles screwing our faces up at him.

I lean down and slowly help Derek up off the ground and he leans into me slightly still obviously feeling weakened from this ordeal. Scott looks at Derek expectantly, "Are you okay?"

"Except for the agonizing pain?" Derek quips back sarcastically as I place my hand in the middle of his back hoping it'll calm him down before he says something stupid. We wanted Scott to trust us and it would be a smoother partnership if he could like us as well.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles quips back just as fast.

Derek gives Stiles a cold glare before he goes to take the tourniquet off his arm. Scott starts speaking again, "Okay, we saved your life. Which means you're gonna leave us alone. Both of you," Scott finishes looking directly at me.

I look at him with raised eyebrows, "Seriously, Scott? You were in the hunter's den tonight, you literally said we've got a million bullets. Can't you see why it's better you're on our side?"

"If you don't," Scott shakes his head not even thinking about what I just said, "I'm gonna go back to Allison's Dad and I'm gonna tell him everything."

I scoff in disbelief and shake my head. Okay, I take it back. These two were idiots all of the time. Derek rolls his eyes slightly and he slowly straightens up and away from my hold, "You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?"

"Why not?" Scott questions like it's the most obvious solution in the world, "They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!"

Derek's mouth is agape slightly and a small smug smirk appears on his face as he nods, "Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are. And I bet Lexi can show you too."

Stiles and Scott look at me confused and I roll my eyes at them. I couldn't believe I was about to do this but Derek had a point. I did have proof of how nice they could be. I reach down and pull my shirt up and over my head. Stiles and Scott's eyes widen as they stare down at me in my bra and skirt.

I turn around and I hear the sharp intake of their breaths and I know they're looking directly at the scars on my shoulder, "My Aunt Kate started training me to be a hunter at 9 years old. This happened on a hunting trip where she watched as a werewolf attacked me."

I turn back around and then lift up my skirt showing my thigh as well. I had since covered the scars on my thigh with a tattoo of a rose but you could still see the scarring. Scott shakes his head, "A werewolf did that to you! Not your family," he says as if he's defending them.

"Did you not just hear what I said?" I exclaim angrily as I put my shirt back on, "Kate began my training at 9 years old! I was just a child!"

Scott and Stiles go silent and I feel Derek's hand rest on the small of my back. I turn and give him a small smile in thanks and he turns back to the two boys in front of us. Derek tells Stiles to drop us to his Camaro and that he would show Scott exactly what he was talking about.

…

When we arrived at the Beacon Hills Crossing Home, I wasn't really sure what to expect. It definitely wasn't this though. Derek walks further into the room we were entering and stops in front of a man in a wheelchair.

Scott stops just in front of me and looks at Derek confused, "Who is he?"

"My Uncle. Peter Hale," Derek explains not turning to look at the young boy.

Scott looks from Peter to Derek before asking carefully, "Is he like you? A werewolf?"

"He was," Derek answers, "Now he's barely even human." Derek pauses and what I want more than anything right now is to give him a hug. This was a pretty huge thing for Derek to bring us to someone from his family that had been affected by the fire.

"Six years ago, my sister and I were at school. Our house caught fire," Derek begins to explain, "Eleven people were trapped inside." My eyes well up with tears as I can't help but think about the pain they felt and how scared they would have been.

"Peter was the only survivor," I conclude quietly and Derek nods in confirmation.

Scott shakes his head slightly still seemingly confused, "So, what makes you so sure they set the fire?"

"Cause they're the only ones that knew about us," Derek scoffs slightly at Scott's reluctance to see the truth.

I almost reach out and slap Scott for what he says next but I'm frozen in place from the sheer audacity he must have to even think this, "Then they had a reason?"

"Like what?" Derek questions narrowing his eyes slightly at Scott, "You tell me what justifies this," Derek turns his Uncle towards us and reveals burn scarring all along the side of his face.

I bring my hand up to cover my mouth in shock and Scott's eyes widen as well. I shake my head and scoff, "The code says we'll only kill an adult and only with absolute proof. This is so wrong," I whisper out and take a couple of steps back before walking out of the room. I couldn't be in there. I knew exactly who it was in my family that was capable of something like this. And they had just rolled into town and already tried to kill Derek.

I walk out into the cool night and stand beside Derek's Camaro waiting for them to finish up in there. I look down at my phone and see that it was nearing 11pm and that's when my Dad had insisted that I be home by. I had text him earlier to let him know that I was out for dinner with friends so that they wouldn't question whether I had been the one to take a bullet from Kate's collection.

"Hey," I hear Derek call out softly. I look up and see he's alone and that Scott hasn't followed him out. He points back to the building and answers the question I was thinking, "Scott's getting a lift home with his Mum."

I nod in understanding and I go to get in Derek's car but he hasn't unlocked it yet. I look over to him and he makes his way over to the passenger side of the car with me, "Are you okay?" he asks me softly.

I chuckle lightly and shake my head, "I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that. But yeah I'm fine."

"Did you need somewhere to crash tonight?" Derek asks as he shoves his hands into his pockets and I smile slightly at this action. If I knew him better, I would almost say he was acting nervous around me.

I shake my head again and quickly respond when he looks up at me expectantly, "Oh, no. I'm on a curfew tonight. 11pm."

"Okay," Derek nods understandingly and unlocks his car finally, "I'll drive you home now."

The car ride is silent with the exception of the faint song playing on the radio. I was so incredibly caught up with thinking about everything that had happened tonight that I never noticed the way Derek continued to stare at me as we neared my street.

He pulls over at the corner of my street and I let out a sigh, "Thanks for the ride. And I'm glad you're okay, Derek."

"You were worried?" Derek asks as if it was surprising that I was concerned for his well-being.

I nod and give him a smile as I shut the door and lean on the rolled down window, "Yeah, I really was. Let's not do that again."

I hear him exhale slightly and it sounds as if he let out a small chuckle as he shakes his head, "Goodnight, Alexis."

"Goodnight, Derek," I say back and I push off the car and watch as he drives off. I rub my hands up and down my arms trying to warm myself up as I quickly walk down the sidewalk towards my house. I check the time again and see it was 5 minutes past 11. I roll my eyes and prepare myself for some looks of disappointment that I've missed curfew by 5 minutes.

When I walk through the front door I can hear my Dad and Kate talking in the living room. My Dad calls out my name and asks that I come into the room. I let out a tired sigh and make my way into the room. Kate nods for me to sit down and I oblige by sitting on the couch across from my Dad.

"The one that attacked me was big," Kate begins explaining the attack that happened last night, "It had width and power. But the one I shot was lean and fast."

Chris nods realising who Kate was talking about, "Well, that would be Derek Hale."

"Are we sure?" Kate questions and I see her look over to me momentarily. I knew the Calavera family would have looped Kate in with their suspicions on me and she was probably gaging for a reaction when my Dad mentioned Derek's name.

"Mostly," Chris responds.

Kate shrugs as she starts the process of getting the fire going, "How do we know it's just two of them?"

"We don't, yet," Chris sighs, "But if Derek's still alive, he will lead us to the alpha."

I clench my jaw slightly and feel myself getting frustrated at the fact that my family was willing to use Derek to get to the alpha and then kill them both. Kate nods, "Take the pack leader."

"Then take the pack," I finish for her reflexively and I close my eyes in annoyance that I still had Kate's training deeply ingrained into my brain.

My Dad nods giving me a small, proud smile, "And we do it according to the code."

"You and the code," Kate sighs out shaking her head.

I roll my eyes at my Dad's response to her, "It's there for a reason, Kate." He was still so oblivious to what Kate was willing to do with no regards to the code whatsoever.

"Of course," Kate agrees half-heartedly and I watch as she lights up a match and tosses it into the fire starting it up, "I always play by the rules." She turns her head in my direction and winks at me.

I roll my eyes and get up heading for the stairs, "I'm going to bed. Night."

My Dad calls out goodnight and I hear some footsteps come after me. I brace for a conversation with Kate because I knew she was the one following after me. She walks up the stairs beside me and when we reach the top landing she shoves me into the hallway wall where my Dad wouldn't be able to see us.

I stare back her challengingly and she smirks, "I don't know how you did it, but I know you took the bullet from my bag."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I question, acting as if I had no clue what she was asking. I don't know if she could see right through it though. She did train me after all.

She chuckles slightly impressed but more annoyed at me, "You're good. Really good. But I know it was you. Or there'd be a dead werewolf surfacing about now, so you managed to save him."

"Kate," I say almost a little too condescendingly, "I really have no clue what you're talking about. I've told my parents the same thing and I'll tell you as well. I want no part of being a hunter."

Kate shakes her head disapprovingly and let's go of me, "It's a real shame. I spent so long training you, I thought you'd be a more ruthless version of me."

I shove past her lightly and head for my room, "I'm sure glad I developed a conscious along the way," I say softly, but still loud enough for Kate to hear. She chuckles again at me and when I make it to my room and shut the door, I lean back against it and let out a long breath. I really hoped that we sorted out this alpha business soon. I didn't know how long I would last having to share the house with Kate.

…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Tell:**

**…**

Allison and I pull up to the DVD store and I look over to our left seeing Jackson's Porsche pulls up beside ours at the same time. We both wave to the couple and Lydia smiles and waves back but Jackson gets out of the car grumpily and stomps inside to the store.

"Okay," I drawl out and turn back to Allison, "I'll get the movies and you go pick up our take-away!"

Allison nods with a smile, "And please make sure you get Dirty Dancing and pick another sappy romance movie please!"

I let out a sigh and nod, "You're lucky I'm in the mood for some romance tonight." I get out of the car and head into the store as Allison drives off to go get our dinner. I was generally an action gal or even a good comedy but with the lack of romance in my own life compared to Allison and even Lydia's, I couldn't deny that I had been thinking about it lately. And my thoughts always came back to the green-eyed Hale that I had not seen since the night he almost died.

I hear Jackson call out as I start perusing through the aisles, "Can somebody help me find The Notebook?"

I turn around and smile slightly in Jackson's way and he rolls his eyes at me, "Shut up. Lydia's forcing me to watch it. Again."

I shake my head, "No, I think it's cute."

"We've seen it 100 times," Jackson continues to complain as he looks around for a store attendant, "What is it with you girls and The Notebook?"

I shrug slightly and walk down his aisle to help him look for it, "You could learn a few things from romance movies, Jackson."

He scoffs lightly with a playful smile on his face and we walk further into the store. I hear the phone ringing in the background and look around seeing no sign of anyone actually working here, "Hello? Is anyone actually working here?" Jackson calls out as we continue to walk towards the flickering light and ladder that was set up.

I stop suddenly when I look forward and see what looks like a pair of feet poking out from behind the DVD shelving. I grab Jackson's arm and point ahead to what I was looking at and his face screws up in confusion. We walk forward slowly and I feel Jackson reach back out for my arm and he grabs it tightly. With still no movement from the legs, I was starting to guess exactly what we were about to see.

Both Jackson and I take sharp intakes of breath as we see the store attendant lying on the ground with his throat basically torn out and blood pooling on and around his body. Jackson stumbles backwards and he knocks the ladder over which causes the light fixture to fall from the ceiling. The entire store flickers from light to dark as the entire lighting system is shorted from the broken lighting fixture.

"Come on," I say quickly and pulls Jackson back up again, "We need to get out of here and call the cops!" Just as we go to turn around to leave there's a low growling coming from the front of the store.

Jackson looks to me with wide eyes and we turn around slowly seeing the slight outline of the alpha in the darkness. Jackson pulls us behind the DVD shelving and I feel him grab hold of my hand interlocking our fingers. He looks to me with a panicked look and I give his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. I crawl down to the other end of the shelving and poke my head around to see where the alpha was now.

Jackson pokes his head around his side and jolts back behind the shelving look down to my end with wide eyes. He goes to crawl down towards me but the shelving begins to shake. A huge crashing noise starts barrelling towards us and we realise the alpha has knocked the shelving over to cause a domino effect. Jackson dives out into the hallway on his side and I do the same. I grunt slightly dragging my feet out from under the heavy weight and quickly get up seeing Jackson's pinned down still with the alpha right on top of him.

"Jackson!" I call out when the alpha brings his claws up to his neck but it retracts it's hand quickly and turns in my direction. I barely have time to react when the alpha comes charging for me. It's clawed hand wraps around my throat and I scream out in pain as it throws me into the wall. I hit the ground hard and the wall I was thrown so forcefully into breaks partially and clumps of the wall's plaster fall down on top of me. I cough and splutter as I breathe in all the dust from the broken wall and I can hear the sound of smashing glass in the distance.

"Lexi?" Jackson calls out and I can hear him slowly pull himself out from under the shelving that feel on top of me. I hear him swear under his breath and next thing I know he's pulling the rubble off of me. I cough and splutter some more as he disturbs the dust and wall particles again but I grab hold of his hand and try not to cry out in pain too much as he pulls me up from the ground.

"Did you see it?" Jackson asks nervously as he pulls my arm over his shoulder and he wraps his around my waist to help me walk.

I nod, "It was a mountain lion," I say softly, "It just ran straight at me and I hit the wall."

Jackson nods back slowly but I can see on his face that he's not really convinced. He has to be. He wouldn't believe what it really was even if I did tell him. We make it out of the store and he sits me down on the curb saying he'd call an ambulance and police. Lydia climbs out of her car and rushes over to me, "What the hell happened?! What was that?!"

"A mountain lion," Jackson says curtly to his girlfriend.

Lydia's eyes look over me more carefully and she gasps pointing to my forehead, "Oh my god, Lexi! You're head."

I reach up and feel the warm liquid coating my hairline and just above my right eyebrow, "It's nothing. I just knocked my head."

"You probably have a concussion," Lydia nods as she hands me some tissues. I thank her softly and we continue to wait for the authorities in silence. I was glad it was silent. It gave me a minute to think. The first night I came across the alpha they tried to kill me but this time they just gave me a little tap. Well, not little but this was hardly anything like what it tried to do to me during that first encounter.

I shield my eyes slightly when flashing lights come from all different directions and the ambulance and police arrive. The area is quickly cornered off as a crime scene and I'm soon sitting in the back of the ambulance with one of the paramedics checking me over. I would have a few cuts and bruises all over my body but they were most concerned about my head injury.

"That's gonna need stitches," the paramedic finally sighs out after cleaning up the wound a bit, "We'll need to take you to the hospital."

I nod and give them a small smile, "That's fine. Thanks." They give me a nod and then turn to check over Jackson next.

"Lexi!" I hear my name called out and just through the crowd, I can see Allison trying to shove her way through. I quickly let the paramedic know I just had to tell my sister to meet me at the hospital and they nod.

I walk over to the police taping and she rushes forward wrapping her arms around me tightly, "Are you okay?! What the hell happened?!"

"Another mountain lion attack," I sigh out and pull out from her grasp after a few moments. She looks at my head worriedly and I give her a reassuring smile, "It's fine. They just want to take me to the hospital for some stitches. Will you call Dad? And meet me there?"

Allison nods quickly and pulls out her phone, "I'll call him now! Do you want me to wait with you?"

"Nah," I say shaking my head as I catch a glimpse of two figures on top of the video store roof, "Just get home and tell Dad there was another mountain lion attack at the video store. I'll see you at the hospital, it shouldn't take too long once I'm there."

Allison nods again and reaches forward pulling me into another hug, "I freaked out when I got back and there's police and ambulance's here! I didn't know what to think!"

I rub up and down Allison's back comfortingly, "I'm okay." She pulls back and gives me a small nod before turning and heading back to her car. I was glad it was me and not her. If she had been here instead and saw what I had seen, she surely would've had questions and there was someone in our house that would be willing to give them to her or point her in the right direction.

"Lexi?" I hear someone say my name and I turn around to see it's the Sheriff talking to me, "The paramedics are almost ready to take you, but do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?"

I shake my head and give him a smile, "Not at all."

"I'm Sheriff Stilinski by the way," the Sheriff says as he slides his jacket off and walks forward putting it around my shoulders.

I nod in thanks and wrap the warm jacket around me further, "Stiles' Dad?" I ask as we walk back over to the ambulance.

"Oh you know my son?" Sheriff Stilinski chuckles heartedly and I nod, "Well, I don't know if I need to apologise or not."

I laugh along with him and shake my head, "No, he's been fine. I've only been in Beacon Hills for just over a month now."

"I'm sorry that something like this has happened to you," the Sheriff sighs out as he motions for me to sit down in the back of the ambulance.

I give him a small shrug as I take a seat, "It's okay. I'm lucky, it could've been a lot worse."

"Did you see anything in the store?" Sheriff asks as he gets out his notebook.

I shake my head slightly, "Not really. Once Jackson and I found the body the lights sort of went out and it was hard to see. It looked like a mountain lion though."

"Did you see anything outside before you entered the store? Anyone hanging around or any sign that the animal was already inside?" He continues to question.

I shake my head again, "No… Sorry Sheriff Stilinski. I don't think there's much else I can help you with. I heard it growling and it was really fast."

"No, that's quite alright," Sheriff sighs slightly as he closes his notebook, "You've given me enough. The other two say it was a mountain lion too."

I nod and give him a smile as he walks off to continue his Sheriff duties. I take a glance up to the roof again but there's no sign of anyone standing up there anymore. It had to be Scott and Derek. They'd be checking out what damage the alpha had done this time round. The paramedics set me up in the back of the ambulance and we finally head off to the hospital.

I reach down for my pockets and groan slightly when I realise my phone must've fallen out in all the commotion at the store. I would have to ask Stiles at school tomorrow if his Dad found anything. I lie down on the hospital gurney and let out a slow, relaxing breath. I didn't feel relaxed though. There was no pattern to the kills the alpha was making. None that I could pick up on anyway. And now my Dad would be on edge even more knowing that the alpha attacked me. This will probably give the Calavera family and Kate all the more reason to think I'm working with the werewolves in this town. I close my eyes slowly and the tension in my body starts to subside as I fall asleep from the rocking of the Ambulance.

…

I open my eyes slowly and yawn loudly as I stretch my arms out above my head. The hospital had stitched up my head wound last night and encouraged me to stay in for the night but allowed me to leave as long as my family brought me in if my condition deteriorated in any way. I didn't get to go to sleep until 3 am though because my Dad kept me up for an hour after we got home to make sure I was okay and to ask what had happened. I explained to them exactly what I saw and that the alpha threw me into a wall and that was it. It didn't speak to me, I didn't see who it was and I had no idea why it didn't do anything more to me because I was an Argent after all.

I roll out of bed and check the time on my alarm clock. I probably had about 10 minutes to get ready if I wanted to leave with Allison for school. I make my way out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom and in passing I can hear Kate talking to Allison.

"I was being a protective horrid bitch," I hear Kate say and I chuckle slightly as I walk past and call out, "Mm, yeah you are a bitch."

I hear Allison call out my name scoldingly but I hear her chuckle slightly as well. I head into the bathroom and quickly take a shower and wake myself up as much as I can before heading back to my room in just a towel.

Allison calls out to me and tells me to get changed quickly or she'll leave without me. I roll my eyes and throw on some jeans with a loose, baggy shirt. I grab my leather jacket and school bag quickly and step out into the hallway at the same time as Allison. I throw my hair on top of my head in a messy bun and Allison groans and rolls her eyes at me, "How is it you literally just got out of the shower minutes ago and you can still manage to look better than I do?"

"Oh my god, enough. You know I'm equally jealous of your gorgeous curly hair and porcelain white skin," I tease lightly as I link my arm through hers and we make our way downstairs, "By the way, happy birthday."

She smiles widely at me and I see her eyes flick up to the stitches just in my hairline. I shake my head quickly, "No, don't look at that. I know you feel guilty about last night but stop it. It was my idea to buy movies and dinner for your birthday and how could we have known what was going to happen."

Allison nods and I continue, "Plus, I'm just sorry you didn't get to have a relaxing night. I'll obviously have to make it up to you with another birthday present."

"No," Allison chuckles as she unlocks the car and we both let go of each other to climb into our sides of the car, "You don't need to do that."

I shake my head, "Yes I do! I'll come with an even better present this time round." She shakes her head at me and smiles as we head off to school.

When we arrive Allison heads towards her locker and I head in the direction of Stiles' hoping to find him quickly before class. I see him just up ahead, collecting his books from his locker when someone's hand wraps around my forearm and I'm pulled into an empty classroom. My face immediately contorts into anger but it quickly disappears when I see that it's Jake that has pulled me into the classroom and is replaced with a guarded stance, "What happened last night?" he asks looking over me and glancing at my head wound.

"Can you not ask your Dad? Our families surely would have spoken by now," I say rolling my eyes at him.

He shakes his head, "I need to hear it from you. You were there."

"It was nothing," I say with a sigh and shake my head, "The alpha wasn't after me I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jake shakes his head again at me, "You're involved way more than what you're letting on. I know you are. Do you think I didn't see you help Derek in the parking lot last week?"

I clench my jaw slightly but give him a tired look, "Seriously? You're back to being convinced that I'm involved with Derek Hale?"

"What I can't figure out, though, is why Stiles is helping you?" Jake continues to push and he smirks at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I step back against the wall and lean against it trying to play it off as being tired of his accusations.

He didn't see Scott involved, so that was good. But still, he was getting closer and with Kate in town I had a feeling those two would cross paths soon enough, "Honestly, I don't know where you get these ideas-"

"Stop lying!" Jake yells and he steps forward slamming his fist in the wall beside my head. I flinch slightly and look at where his hand has hit the wall seeing a fairly decent dent made in it.

He chuckles slightly as he shakes the light layer of plaster dust from his fist and I look at him with a wary look, "Seriously? What the hell is your problem?" He narrows his eyes slightly and before I can stop him his lips have pressed against mine forcefully and he pins my body back against the wall with his.

I bring my hands up to his chest and shove him backwards but he just digs his hand into my hip, pressing down hard. I turn my head to the side and let out a small whimper. He leans his head against the side of mine and I can feel his breath on my neck. He chuckles again and I almost shiver in disgust from the sound. He groans into my ear slightly and I flinch away immediately trying to put as much distance between our bodies as I can with him still pressed up against me.

"You know," he drawls out quietly and he runs a finger down the side of my cheek, "You have everyone in your life fooled," he grabs hold of my face and forcefully turns my head to look directly at him, "But you don't fool me."

I look directly in his eyes and I swear I see absolutely no emotion behind them, it was just as if he was staring straight through me, "What the hell is your problem with me? What have I done to you?" I ask quietly.

"Nothing," Jake says with a casual shrug of his shoulders as he steps back and finally let's go of me. He looks me up and down before giving me a wink and leaving me alone in the room. I don't waste any time before I storm out of the room and into the hallway.

I bump into someone and they say my name catching my attention for a moment, "Lexi?" Stiles asks looking at me worriedly as his gaze flicks over to Jake who was sauntering down the hallway. He goes to say something and I shake my head making my way down the hallway the opposite way to Jake. I make it outside and see the lacrosse field ahead and then the preserve after that. I start walking towards the preserve and I know exactly who I need to see right now. I felt unsafe. I felt scared. And there was only one person that I felt safe around these days.

…

When I make it to the Hale house, my body feels lighter already and my heartbeat had steadied the further I got away from the school and the closer I got to Derek's. I step up onto the porch and slowly push the door open to his family home but stop in my tracks as soon as I see Derek doing some pull ups on the beams of the house.

He drops to the floor and starts doing push-ups and I slowly step into the house watching his movement carefully. He had no shirt on and I could see all his back muscles rippling as pushed himself up and down. His movements stop abruptly and his head turns in my direction but he looks past me and to the front door. I have no time to react when he jumps up off the ground and grabs a hold of me pulling us to a small hiding place in the back of the house. I hear the front door creak open again and a few pairs of footsteps make their way into the house.

"No one home?" a man's voice calls out and the next sound I hear makes me freeze up next to Derek. He looks at me for a moment before returning his attention to the intruders in his house.

"Oh, they're here," Jake's voice calls out and I hear Kate chuckle next, "They're just not feeling particularly hospitable."

I close my eyes and bring my hand up to my mouth. Jake was baiting me at the school. He was trying to get a reaction out of me so big that I would run straight to the person I had been trying to protect. I feel Derek's hand brush past mine and he laces our fingers together giving my hand a small squeeze. I open my eyes and see him watching me again, looking concerned but I give him a small nod to try and let him know I was fine.

"Maybe he's out back burying a bone in the backyard," another man's voice calls out and I count that as there only being four hunters in the house right now.

Derek rolls his eyes slightly at the dog joke that the hunter says but what Kate says next is just cruel, "Really a dog joke? We're going there and that's the best you got? If you wanna provoke him say something like, too bad your sister bit it before she had her first litter."

Derek's hand tightens around mine and his eyes flash blue as he tries to reign in his anger while Kate continues to taunt, "Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut her in half!"

Derek growls loudly and disappears from our hiding spot leaving me alone. I hear him attack two of the hunters before his groans of pain fill my ears. I step out slightly from the hiding spot and immediately regret my mistake when I see Jake staring at me with a smirk. He grabs hold of my hair and practically drags me out into the living room where Kate is circling Derek with a taser wand while he writhes in pain on the ground. Jake then let's go of my hair and grabs hold of me by the throat lifting my feet up off the ground slightly. I gasp for breath and try and grip onto his hands to loosen the hold so I could breathe but he just tightens it.

"Wow," Kate smirks down at Derek staring at him with a smile, "This one grew up in all the right places. I don't know whether to kill it or lick it." She hits him again with the taser and I watch helplessly as he writhes in pain some more and his gaze meets mine.

"Kate, stop," I choke out and she turns her attention to me and shakes her head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Oh Lexi, you really do have a soft spot for Derek Hale, don't you?"

She looks down at the taser in her hand and gives it a zap in front of me with a smirk, "900,000 volts. I wonder if she'd survive the hit Derek?"

Derek growls loudly and tries to get back up to attack Kate but she knocks him back down with another jolt of electricity, "You never were good with electricity, were you?" she sighs slightly then chuckles lightly, "Or fire."

I feel my eyes blur slightly and I make a loud choking noise again before Jake drops me on the floor. I gasp for air loudly and bring my hand up to my throat to try and soothe the pain that Jake had caused. Derek looks over to me again and he shakes his head slightly, "Just let her go Kate."

"Oh sweetheart," Kate coos as she leans down beside me and tucks some hair behind my ear, "You haven't fallen for the Argent signature looks again, have you? Cause that would just be tragic."

Derek growls when Kate slightly taps my cheek and she rolls her eyes, "Look, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to catch you," Kate pauses and shakes her head distastefully, "Unpleasant, and frankly, a little too Texas chainsaw massacre for my taste. But quite true," Kate chuckles before continuing, "Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your balls. We didn't kill her."

Derek slowly lifts himself up and he sits back against the door behind him while watching Kate cautiously. Kate raises her eyebrows slightly, "You think I'm lying?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Derek grits out while still convulsing from the electric shocks.

Kate clicks her tongue, "Sweetie… Well, why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am." While Kate repeats herself again, Jake moves his hands onto the gun hanging around his chest and I see him hold it at his side with his finger on the trigger. I see Derek catch the same movements and he gives me the subtlest of nods to signal that he saw it as well.

"There's no blips or upticks," Kate whispers out as she moves back from Derek slightly and begins to stand up again, "Just the steady beat of the cold hard truth."

Kate looks over to me as she distances herself from Derek and shakes her head again looking disappointed, "Found bite marks on your sister, Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion?" She pushes the taser back into normal size and shrugs, "Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is, the alpha killed your sister."

"All you have to do is tell us who is and we'll take care of it for you," Jake says looking down at me. He actually thought that I knew who the alpha was and that I was protecting them.

Kate nods continuing, "Problem solved, everybody goes home happy," she then looks to me and smirks, "And we don't tell anyone that you two actually know each other. Because we know what happened when Jake's Dad wanted to test you both."

Derek growls and his eyes flash blue as he looks away from Kate avoiding her gaze. Kate's jaw slackens slightly as she realises Derek knew nothing, "Unless, you don't know who he is either."

"Well, look who just became totally useless," Kate nods and Jake reaches down grabbing hold of my hair again. I let out a scream as Kate sprays the room with bullets and Derek is forced to flee. Jake pulls me up off the ground by my hair and slams me into the wall.

I collapse in a heap on the ground again and Kate comes and kneels down beside me with a sigh, "You know, I don't know what you're going to do now. I don't think I'm going to tell your father just yet because, well, where's the fun in that," Kate chuckles as she taps me on the nose teasingly, "Go."

I look at her confusedly and Jake starts to protest but Kate steps back and gives Jake a stern look before saying again, "Go on. I want you to go find the little lovesick werewolf and let him know you're okay."

I don't move for a second and she turns the taser back on again and threatens to zap me. I quickly scramble to get up off the ground and I push past Jake slightly. He grabs hold of my arm and pulls me against him slightly but Kate warns him and he let's go but not before giving me a wink. I rush out the door past the hunters that Derek had knocked out and run further into preserve, not really sure where I was going to go or even if I would return home tonight. Kate wasn't going to tell my parents but that didn't mean I was safe there anymore.

"Lexi?" I hear Derek's voice travel through the trees and I stop looking around to see if I can spot him. I jump slightly as I hear a gunshot ring out through the preserve and I look around frantically worried that they've shot Derek. I see his head poke out from behind a tree and I quickly run towards him. I grab his hand and we run further into the preserve and I wait for Derek to slow our pace when he can no longer hear Kate and Jake anymore.

We stop and I take slow deep breaths in and out while Derek continues to look around and listen if we were safe here, "They didn't follow us, we should be fine now."

"She just let me leave," I say shaking my head in disbelief, "I thought for sure that they were going to drag me home and tell my parents but Kate's toying with me."

I sway slightly on the spot and Derek turns to look at me. His eyes drift down to my waist and his eyes widen as he rushes forward lifting up my shirt. I look down and notice for the first time that the bottom half of my shirt is soaking in blood, "Oh my god."

"They shot you," Derek growls out and he catches me when my legs give out from beneath me. He starts working quickly and pulls my jacket off followed by my shirt. He immediately rips it up into long enough pieces to tie around my waist. The bullet hole was just a flesh wound. They obviously weren't trying to kill me today.

I wince and squeeze my eyes shut tight when he presses down on the wound to tie it off, "You've gotta take me to the animal clinic."

Derek shakes his head immediately, "Are you insane? You're going to the hospital, we can't stitch this up. You might need blood, I don't know how much you've lost," he rambles on really quickly and I can immediately tell his nervous.

I grab hold of his hand and stop him, "Derek. If they wanted to kill me, I'd be dead. This is just a flesh wound. Deaton, the veterinarian, will be there and he can stitch it up."

"Are you sure?" Derek asks quietly as he searches my eyes for something. I give him a confident nod and he lets out a shaky breath before helping me up off the ground, "Fine, we have to get to my car first."

Derek lifts me up into his arms and he starts running again through the preserve in the direction of his car. I rest my head on his shoulder and try and keep my breathing even and my heartbeat steady. I didn't want to tip Derek off that I was worried. One of us needed to stay calm and this time it was going to be me.

…

When we reach the animal clinic, I feel 10x worse than what I did at the preserve. Derek gets out of his car and rushes around to my side to help me out. I put my hand on his chest and stop him when he goes to lead us to the back door.

"You can't come in with me," I say quietly and his eyes widen and he shakes his head in response.

"You're kidding right?" he asks me with an incredulous look, "Of course I'm coming in with you."

I shake my head and tell him no again, "Deaton can't see us together. I don't trust that he'll keep it a secret from my family."

"I'll make him," Derek insists and he goes to help me out of the car again.

I hold my hand against his chest again and he sighs frustratingly, "Fine. I'll be close so I can hear you call out to me if anything happens."

I nod accepting his terms and he helps me stand up out of the car but then I let go of him and make my way to the back door of the clinic. I quietly walk inside holding my side and when I reach the examination room, Deaton stops in his tracks and stares back at me questioningly.

"Lexi, this is a surprise," he says in the coolest tone ever. He moves throughout the room calmly, collecting a few different things before he taps the examination table.

I climb up onto and lay down while untying the makeshift shirt bandage Derek had made for me, "I've been shot."

"I can see that," Deaton nods looks closely at the wound. He gets to work on it straight away and starts cleaning me up, "I'm surprised I haven't seen you before this. You usually come say hello after using up some of my supplies."

I give him a small apologetic smile, "I know. I'm sorry." I really did like Deaton. He was so mysterious though. I knew he had a small amount of loyalty to our family but I wasn't sure how far that extended.

"Huh?" I hear Deaton say softly as he pulls the bullet out from my side. I let out a small groan and lift my head up to look at him. He was staring at the bullet and back down the bullet wound, "I won't ask why, but this is one of your family's bullets?"

I nod carefully and he continues, "It looks as though you've been shot with a wolfsbane bullet."

My face screws up in confusion and I look down at the wound. Deaton had cleaned it up and it was looking a lot better now without the blood everywhere, but I could see that it didn't look like a normal bullet wound. And I'd seen a few.

"That's not the weirdest part though," Deaton says finally looking up from the wound at directly at me, "It seems that you're having an allergic reaction to it."

I shake my head confused, "But I'm not a werewolf."

"No, you're most definitely not," Deaton says sounding just as confused, "I'm going to stitch up the wound but I want you to come back and see me tomorrow if it hasn't got any better."

I nod and lay my head back down and don't move until he has finished stitching it up. I sit up slowly and let my head get accustomed to being upright again when Deaton asks, "Is there someone that can keep an eye on you tonight?"

"I can," I hear Derek's voice say from the doorway and I turn my head quickly in his direction and give him a slightly annoyed look. He ignores it and walks over to me, helping me off the examination table. His arm wraps around me protectively and Deaton watches us intrigued.

He gives us a nod, "Okay. If you get any worse, we'll need to treat it as if we were treating a werewolf that had been shot with the same bullet."

"Thanks Deaton," I nod back giving him a smile. He gives me the smallest smile back and Derek leads us back out of the clinic.

When we get in the car and he drives off, I finally grumble out, "I told you not to come in."

"I know," Derek sighs out and shakes his head, "I couldn't wait outside. I was really worried when he said you were reacting to the bullet."

I shake my head, "It's probably nothing. I don't understand how I can react to wolfsbane, I'm not a werewolf."

"We should get a couple of the bullets," Derek shrugs and I can tell he's driving in the direction of my house, "Just in case."

I let out a tired sigh and shift uncomfortably in my seat, "Fine. But I'll get it. And I'll pack a bag. It's probably safest if I stay at a motel for a few days now that Kate and Jake know about us."

When he pulls up around the corner from my place, he puts his car into park and shuts it off. I look to him with raised eyebrows, "You're not serious? You definitely need to wait here this time."

"Hasn't your school got parent-teacher conferences today?" Derek asks with a shrug and he gets out quickly before I can respond.

When he reaches my side and helps me out of the car I start talking again, "Okay, one, how did you know that? And two, Kate could be home!"

"We'll sneak in through your backyard and through your window," Derek shrugs as we head into someone's backyard to jump their fence. I roll my eyes frustratingly but go along with it. After jumping a few fences and creeping through my neighbours backyards, we reach my house and it looks as though no one's home.

It was starting to get dark finally and I knew that my parents would definitely be at the school by now for parent-teacher conferences. I didn't have to be there though because my grades were above a C. Derek boosts me up onto the roof of the back porch and he follows behind me promptly. I push my window open and we both climb in and I start packing a bag. I reach into my bedside drawer and grab a small box before tossing it to Derek.

He opens it intrigued and sees that it's wolfsbane bullets. His eyes glow blue in response to being so close to them, "I decided to keep a couple handy, just in case you got shot again," I shrug and he looks at me with a small smirk before I quickly add, "And Scott."

"Is this your phone?" Derek asks as he picks a phone up from my pillow.

I walk forward quickly and grab it out of his hand looking at my bed and back to my phone, "I haven't been able to find it since last night? I thought the police had found it for evidence maybe."

Derek takes a deep breath in and his eyes flash blue again, "He's been here."

I look at him with a confused look and he growls lowly, "The alpha." My eyes widen slightly and I quickly pocket my phone shaking my head and turning back to packing. I needed to get everything packed quickly because I had no idea if Kate or someone else was going to get home and catch us.

I go to walk out of my bedroom and Derek calls out asking where I was going. I call out to him as I continue walking out into the hallway, "I just need to get a few things from the bathroom."

I quickly collect a few toiletry items and go to walk out when Derek rushes into the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He quickly turns on the shower and I look at him confused but my eyes widen when I hear my Dad call out my name from downstairs.

"Lexi, you home?" He yells.

I look to Derek for a moment before deciding to reply, "Yeah, just showering!"

"Okay," he calls back, "I left my wallet here but we're heading to school for parent-teacher conferences."

I let out a small breath of relief, "See you later!" My Dad says good-bye back and I wait for Derek to nod when he hears my Dad leave and the car drive away.

"He's gone," Derek nods, "There's no one else here."

I chuckle slightly and lean my head against his shoulder in relief. He reaches out putting his hand on my arm and then he lifts my head up off his shoulder and he's looking at me concerned. He holds his hand up against my forehead, "You feel like you're burning up?"

I bring my own hands up to my cheeks and do realise that I'm feeling quite warm, "It might be the bullet wound?"

Derek nods slowly and he reaches in turning the shower off before he leads us back to my room, "Let's get your stuff and get to a motel so you can rest."

I look down at my hand which Derek is holding onto tightly as he grabs my packed bag and he puts my bathroom products into it. We head back out the window and back into Derek's car and he hands me the box of wolfsbane bullets.

I stare at the box in my hand and open it slowly. I pick up one of the bullets and hold it in my hand. I hadn't ever thought that I was affected by these bullets. Whenever I picked one up it did feel hot in my hands but I hadn't really thought that it meant anything, "Why would I be affected by wolfsbane?" I ask aloud as Derek pulls into the motel.

I look around and realise that I had been in a daze the entire car ride, "I'm not sure," Derek mumbles out quietly before saying he'd go book us a room. I sit in the car silently wondering if Derek knew something that he wasn't sharing with me. He was obviously surprised that I was being affected by it but he almost looked as though he had some ideas as to why. I look down and realise that I still hadn't put a shirt on and all I was wearing was my jacket after Derek had put it back on me after tying my shirt around my wound.

I look over as Derek wanders back to the car and I see he has a shirt on. I really must've been out of it on the car trip to not notice that he'd put a shirt on. He grabs my bags out of the trunk and I slowly get out of the car and follow him to the room. I look down at the bandages wrapped around my torso and see there was a small bit of blood starting to come through. Derek looks down at my torso as well as he opens the room door for me and he lets out a worried sigh.

I immediately lay down on the bed and before I can protest, Derek is lifting the bandages up and having a look at the wound. He shakes his head slightly, "It looks like it's getting worse."

"It probably isn't," I say with a tired sigh, "Let's at least wait until the morning, okay?"

Derek nods reluctantly and he opens my bag. I watch with a small smile on my face as he takes my toiletries to the bathroom and sits them on the sink. He looks over to me and stops in his tracks with a confused look, "What?" he questions as I continue to smile at him.

I close my eyes and roll over, "You're taking care of me." My eyes feel incredibly heavy and tired as I curl up on the bed. I feel a blanket get pulled over me and I hear Derek mumble something lightly but I can't make it out as I fall asleep.

…

Derek watches as Lexi curls herself up on the bed and slightly squirms as she tries to get comfortable on the motel bed. He grabs one of the blankets off his bed and lays it over her gently, "I will always take care of you," he says softly as he pushes some of her hair away from her face.

He smiles down at her slightly as her smile gets bigger and he wonders if she heard what he had said. They had so much tension between them and it was getting harder and harder to ignore it and concentrate on the reason they had started working together. To catch the alpha. Derek's eyes flash blue again and he thinks about how the alpha had gotten into Lexi's room, into the Argent's house. He knew it was a message mainly to him. He was getting too close to the girl and the alpha and the hunter's would use that against him.

They already were. He had wanted to rip that hunter, Jake, to shreds when he'd put hands on Lexi and made her scream. He could also smell his scent all over her before he had even shown up at the house. Before Lexi had even stepped through the front door of his place today, Derek knew she was upset and he almost wanted to say even scared. Something had happened and she had come straight to him. He sits down on his bed and continues to watch over the girl sleeping soundly on the bed next to his. He knew he was in trouble when he realised he'd be up for a while making sure she was still okay.

…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Heart Monitor**

**…**

"Lexi?" I hear someone's voice in the distance call out as I slowly open my eyes. I felt so incredibly tired still. I knew I had slept through the entire night though because the room was light and it was daylight outside.

I see Derek standing beside my bed as my eyes adjust to the light, "Yeah?" I croak out.

"Your phone's been going off all night but I didn't want to wake you," Derek says holding my phone out for me to grab, "It's your Dad."

I sit up quickly and immediately regret that movement when the entire room spins around me, "Shit. I didn't tell him I'd be staying at a motel. He'll be freaking out."

I see the time on the screen and groan slightly when I see that it's already 11am. I answer the call quickly and say hello when my Dad's voice rips into me from the other end, "Alexis Adeline McCall. Where the hell are you?"

"Dad," I sigh out rubbing my forehead already feeling my head pound even more from the conversation I knew was about to happen, "I'm okay. I forgot to call you but I stayed at a motel last night."

He lets out a frustrated noise, "Lexi, I don't understand. Kate said she caught you out at the Hale house yesterday. She said she almost shot you before she realised it was you."

I look to Derek with wide eyes, "And what else did she say?" Kate said she wouldn't tell them anything yet but it was only the next day and my parents knew. Why would she tell them she almost shot me but not say anything about Derek?

"Nothing," my Dad responds curtly, "Was there anything else she needed to tell me?"

I close my eyes in relief and shake my head, "No. I hope you're questioning her too because if I remember correctly you told her to stay away from the Hale house too."

"Yes, I am but it's you I want to talk about right now," he responds already too annoyed to deal with me challenging him, "I don't know what's going on with you but this needs to stop. You might be 18 but you're still living under my roof and I will not have a daughter mixed up with a Hale."

I scoff slightly and already feel myself regretting what I was about to say, "Well, maybe I should just move out then."

"Alexis," my Dad says warningly, "You're on very thin ice. If you're not home in the next 20 minutes there will be consequences."

I roll my eyes and groan loudly, "Jesus, Dad." The phone goes dead on the other end and I look down at the phone angrily before tossing it onto the bed beside me. I lean forward resting my elbows onto my knees and bury my face into my hands.

"You need to go home?" Derek asks after a while of us just sitting in silence.

I let out a frustrated groan and lift my head up nodding at him, "Yeah, I do." I get up and grab a shirt from my bag, angrily putting it on, "I've gotta go home and deal with the shit Kate has caused for us now."

"She didn't tell them that I was there though," Derek shrugs as I walk off into the bathroom to check what my hair and face were doing after what I can only assume was a restless night sleep for me considering how tired I still felt.

I reply back to Derek as I start fixing my hair and freshening myself up by splashing some water on my face, "No, Kate will be keeping that to herself for a while I think. I think she was telling the truth when she said she wouldn't tell my parents about us. It just worked out even better for her that I didn't go home last night and she probably felt like stirring the pot."

"What're you going to tell them?" Derek asks as he steps into the doorway of the bathroom and I meet his gaze in the mirror.

I let out a tired sigh and shrug my shoulder slightly, "I don't know," I turn around and walk back out of the bathroom to grab my phone and back pack, "But then I'll need to get to school and make sure Allison isn't freaking out over me not coming home either."

I go to grab the bag of clothes that I had packed as well but Derek grabs my arm softly and stops me, "Leave it here."

I look at him slightly confused and he continues, "I'll keep paying for this room and that way you'll know you've got somewhere to go if you can't go home."

"Derek," I say softly giving him a surprised look, "It's fine. It won't be that bad at home-"

"Please," Derek cuts me off and continues trying to convince me, "I can't exactly go back to my house now that Kate's raided it. We'll both have somewhere to go if we need to."

I take a moment to think about it before finally nodding, "Okay." He takes my bag off me and places it under the bed before we both walk out of the room and head to his car.

"How's your stomach?" Derek asks cutting through the silence as he starts the car up and we start heading in the direction of my house.

I nod lifting my shirt up to look at the bandage still secured around my torso, "Yeah, it feels fine. I'll change the dressings later and have a better look at it."

Derek nods and I swear I almost hear him letting out a breath of relief at my answer, "I guess I'm not affected by the wolfsbane like Deaton thought," I say with a shrug and I pull my shirt back down. We pull onto my street and I let out a frustrated noise while I grab my back pack from the back seat.

I give Derek a small smile, "Wish me luck."

"Call me later if you need anything," Derek nods.

I open the car door and pause slightly. I had been quietly thinking about what I was going to say to Derek when we parted ways after this car ride. I knew we were getting too close to each other and we were putting each other at risk. I turn back to him, "Actually… I was thinking it might be best if we cool it with the contact for a couple of days."

Derek looks at me confused and I almost want to say he looks hurt as well but then he nods and his expression changes, "Uh, yeah that's probably a good idea." I climb out of the car and close the door just as he drives off down the street and disappears around the corner.

I let out another frustrated noise as I start walking down the path to my house but this time it's more at myself. Derek and I were only supposed to be working together for the sake of finding the alpha and helping Scott. But now I had spent the night in a motel room with him and been caught by Kate and Jake at his house. I kept being drawn back to him and I had to take a step back for a couple days and just think about this. I couldn't lose the ability to think rationally about this just because I felt something for Derek. And it was something. If I continued down this path, what would happen when everyone found out about us working together?

I walk into my house, through the front door this time, and Chris immediately comes into the foyer from the living room to greet me. I look at him slightly annoyed and he has the same look on his face as we continue to stare at each other, silently challenging the other on who would speak first.

I roll my eyes and start making my way to the stairs when he clears his throat finally and breaks the silence, "Are you even going to try and explain why Kate caught you at the Hale house yesterday?"

"No," I say with a shrug as I turn around to face him again with my arms crossed over my chest, "It doesn't matter what I say. You always take Kate's side."

Chris rolls his eyes at me now and shakes his head, "Alexis, this is getting serious. The Calavera's are convinced you are working against us and with Derek and I have to say that I am starting to question you as well," he pauses and lets out a tired sigh, "I honestly don't know where we went wrong with you."

I clench my jaw slightly and turn back around to the stairs, rushing up to my room. I hear my Dad call out to me and he almost sounds apologetic as I hear his footsteps follow up the stairs as well. I start packing up my things quickly when he comes into my room despite me making it very clear that I didn't want to talk when I had slammed my door.

"Lexi," Chris sighs out and he rubs his temples calmly, "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean that. It's just-" he pauses and shakes his head as he moves to sit on the end of my bed while I still continue to pack my clothes, "It was supposed to be different."

I pause my movements and slowly turn around to face him as he continues, "I know Kate got to you before your mother and I even had a chance to bring you into this world properly. I'm still not one hundred per cent sure what happened that night Kate took you hunting but I know things would've been different if you were taught the right way."

"Yeah," I scoff slightly and shake my head, "Well, I learnt a long time ago that there isn't anything right about what our family does."

My Dad stands up and he says quietly, "Get ready for school please. I'll drop you off." He walks out of my room and I'm left alone finally. I was taking my anger out on my Dad when it was really Kate that was I always mad at. I let out a sigh as I thought about how much easier it would be if I did move out like I had threatened to do over the phone earlier with Dad. I knew if I did that though, I wouldn't be kept in the loop about the hunters' movements tracking Derek and the alpha. And if I wasn't around to challenge Kate then there's no telling what she might do.

…

I walk down the steps following behind Allison as she continues to complain that Scott hadn't gotten back to her after she tried calling him last night. It had been a few days since the night when I didn't come home, Allison had grilled me about what I was doing and who I had been with. She thought I was going off the rails again but I'd let her continue to think that if it meant she didn't find out that her boyfriend is actually a werewolf and our family hunts them.

I look down the steps as Allison turns around to look at me and I catch Scott quickly turn around and hightail it in the other direction. Allison clears her throat looking at me expectantly and I give her an apologetic smile, "Sorry Al, I'm sure you'll see him today and it'll just be that he was asleep when you called last night."

"Maybe," Allison shrugs as she turns back around and we continue down the hall, "But I thought he would've text me before school or something."

I chuckle slightly and shake my head, "I think you're overthinking this way too much."

"You're probably right," Allison says letting out a breathy laugh, "I'll see you at lunch?"

I nod and we part ways to head to our different classes. I walk into the room and see Scott slide into the seat behind Stiles up the back. I see the spot next to Scott is free and head to the back of the classroom as well.

"You know I feel really bad about it right," I hear Scott say as I take my seat beside him. He looks over to me screwing his nose up slightly as he breathes in. I look at him with raised eyebrows as he looks down at my stomach and then back up to me again. His cheeks slightly go pink when he realises I've caught him staring and he turns back to Stiles who was ignoring him.

I bring my hand down to my stomach and rest it over where the bullet wound was from the other day. It looked like it was healing but it still felt incredibly sore and I think it had something to do with why I had been feeling so tired. I know Deaton said to go back to him if it got worse but really it looked like it was healing. I didn't think there was anything too serious going on and I was hoping the pain would start to go away.

"What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and that I went to Derek for help?" I hear Scott say and I immediately perk up slightly when I hear Derek's name come out of his mouth.

Stiles lets out a frustrated sigh and finally responds to his friend, "If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him," he pauses before saying, "But obviously, I'm not talking to you."

I roll my eyes and start getting my things out of my bag when the bell rings to start class. I hadn't spoken to Derek since he dropped me off that morning and I was really happy to hear that he was still helping Scott. Things had cooled down at home as well since the last time I saw Derek and I think it was because my Dad knew where I was spending my time because I had barely left the house since then as well. Stiles spazzes out slightly in his chair as he turns around to ask Scott about what Derek said and I continue to listen to their conversations throughout the class.

When the bell goes signalling the end, I stand up out of my seat and go to pick up my bag when my vision blurs slightly. I shake my head and lean against my desk for some support while the dizziness passes. I wince slightly when the pain in my stomach flares up slightly and I finally make the decision that I would need to go see Deaton tonight.

I look up ahead and see Scott and Stiles had already made it to the door. I push past a few students and make it to the two when I hear Scott say, "He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."

I let out a frustrated sigh and continue to walk past them deciding not to get involved in whatever they were doing. If Scott had work tonight, I'd have to wait even longer to see Deaton. I look down at the time on my phone. Allison drove to school today so I didn't have a car to get to the clinic but if I walked I could still make it there before Scott started after school.

I send a quick text to Allison telling her I was feeling unwell and going to walk home before heading to my locker to collect my things and start the trek to the clinic.

…

I walk into the clinic and shake off the light dusting of snow that had rested on my jacket that hadn't melted yet. I look at the time and see that Scott would most likely be here in an hour and I hoped that would be plenty of time for Deaton to figure out what was going on.

I stand at the front desk and ring the bell and Deaton walks out of the back examination rooms. He gives me a small smile as he opens the gate for me to come through to the back, "Lexi, it's good to see you again. I have to admit, I thought I'd be seeing you a lot sooner than this with the way your bullet wound was looking the other day."

I give him a smile back and nod, "Um yeah. Well, that's why I've come back again."

"It's gotten worse?" Deaton asks as he invited me to sit down on a stool.

I shrug slightly, "Not exactly. It looks like it's healing but it still hurts and I think it's been making me feel so tired. I was feeling a little dizzy earlier too."

Deaton asks me to lift my shirt and show him the wound and I follow his instructions. He examines the wound carefully and presses down on it slightly causing me to clench my teeth to stop from groaning in pain. He steps back and continues to look puzzled, "You're right, it does look like it's healing."

"So, why am I still in pain?" I ask pulling my shirt down again.

Deaton moves around the room gathering a few items and he places them on the table, "I think what we're going to have to do is what I said if you deteriorated in anyway after your last visit."

"You want to treat it as if I was a werewolf shot with wolfsbane?" I ask giving him a surprised look.

He nods in response, "It will most likely be incredibly painful but I think it will help with pain you're still feeling."

I let out a humourless breath and shake my head slightly before sitting up on the examination table and lying down, "Alright, let's do this quickly then. I don't think it'd be a good idea for your employee to see you helping me," I say thinking that Deaton probably wasn't aware that Scott was a werewolf.

"No, you're probably right about that," Deaton says with a small smile as he starts preparing. He explains that he's going to have to cut open the wound again to be able to put the burnt wolfsbane bullet powder into it. I give him a nod letting him know to do it. I grip the examination table tightly as he begins the process.

When he finishes cutting the stitches out and reopening the wound, he gives me a warning before forcing the wolfsbane powder into the wound. I immediately begin to scream and writhe on top of the table as the pain becomes 10x worse than it was when I'd first got here. I look down at the wound on my stomach and I can practically hear my skin sizzling as the powder sinks into the wound. If this is the pain Derek went through when he was healing his bullet wound, then no wonder he was so pissed at Stiles afterwards for being so sarcastic and sassy. My vision starts to blur as my head lulls to the side and I finally pass out from the pain.

…

Deaton hears the front bell ring from someone entering through the front door of the clinic. He had been waiting on Scott for his shift but was almost glad that the young teenager was running late again today. He still had Alexis in his office on the couch sleeping off the small procedure she'd gone through. He was already impressed with how her body had reacted to the treatment that was really meant for werewolves. She had withstood a lot more pain as well and was impressed how long she managed to hold off before passing out. He had his own suspicions as to why she was affected by wolfsbane but he wouldn't burden her with those until he had done a little more research.

"Scott, you're late again," Deaton calls out to who he thinks is his employee coming for his shift, "I hope this isn't getting to be a habit," he teases lightly and turns to the door of the clinic room to see Derek Hale instead.

Deaton pauses for a moment, deciding how he is going to approach this before asking, "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," Derek nods, "I want to know about the animal you found with the spiral on its side?" Derek watches the veterinarian closely but looks around the room taking in a quiet breath. He could smell Lexi's blood here. And it was recent.

"Excuse me?" Deaton shakes his head, acting unsure of what Derek is talking about, "What animal?"

Derek pulls out the sheet of paper he found on his car earlier, "3 months ago. The deer. Do you remember this?"

"Oh yes," Deaton nods looking slightly nervous, "It's just a deer. And I didn't find it. They called me because they wanted to know if I'd ever seen anything like it." He had already seen Derek acting quite protectively around the young girl he had in his office right now and wasn't sure how he would react if he found her passed out in there.

"What'd you tell them?" Derek demands as he walks towards to back office door slowly. He could hear another heartbeat back there and he had a feeling he knew exactly who it was going to be.

Deaton shakes his head slightly as he watches Derek carefully, "I told them no." Derek places his hand on the door handle to the office door and swings it open quickly. His eyes flash blue and he growls loudly seeing Lexi passed out on the couch with a bloodied bandaged wrapped around her torso. He turns back to the veterinarian and knocks him out with one hit. He knew that Deaton was lying to him just then and now he was beyond angry to find Lexi here clearly hurt and passed out. This guy was the alpha or he knew who the alpha was. And he was going to find out exactly what this guy was hiding.

…

Scott walks into the clinic letting out a worried sigh that he was so very late to his shift. He hears a crash in the back room and Derek's voice booms through the clinic. Scott rushes out the back and see Derek threatening his boss, "What're you doing?" Scott screams as he flicks the light on.

"Scott, get out of here!" Deaton warns and Derek let's go of Scott's boss and punches him hard.

Scott rushes over and yells at Derek again, "Stop! Stop!"

"Look, when he's conscious, he can keep himself from healing but unconscious he can't!" Derek explains to the young teen.

Scott shakes his head looking at Derek angrily, "Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?"

"You want to know what the spiral means, Scott?" Derek asks feeling himself getting angrier as he thinks about how much danger Lexi would've been in if he hadn't figured out that Scott's boss was the alpha, "It's our sign for a vendetta, for revenge! It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied!"

"You think he's the alpha?" Scott asks in disbelief as he looks to his boss then back to Derek.

Derek nods, "We're about to find out," Derek goes to hurt the veterinarian again but Scott's hand quickly stops him and Derek looks up seeing Scott completely wolfed out as he snarls warningly at the fellow beta. Derek steps back after Scott shoves his arm away and he looks at Scott surprised seeing the young beta being able to control himself.

Scott watches as his claws retract and he looks to Derek with glowing yellow eyes, "Hit him again, and then you'll see me get angry."

Derek doesn't make a move to hurt his boss again so Scott starts gathering some things before he begins cleaning up the cut on his boss' cheek. Derek goes into the back office to put some space between him and Scott for a moment. He stands beside the couch that Lexi was passed out on and he reaches down pressing his hand gently to her forehead. Her temperature had gone down from when he'd checked on her before and heartbeat had slowed to a normal rate again. She'd obviously come back because she was still having trouble with the bullet wound from the other day. And he had no idea she was still hurt.

He'd stayed away from her the past few days like she had said but he knew he'd only listened to her because he was feeling hurt that she had said they needed to limit their contact. He knew she was right but it still hurt him.

Derek reaches down and lifts her up off the couch, carrying her out into the clinic room where Scott and Deaton still were. Scott doesn't turn around as he hears Derek enter the room again but curiosity finally gets the better of him when he hears another heartbeat in the room. He turns around and his eyes widen as he watches Derek place Lexi down on the examination table, "What the hell did you do to her?" Scott asks with wide eyes.

"You think I did this?" Derek asks in disbelief. He wouldn't ever hurt the young girl in front of him and he was starting to feel his anger rising at the thought of Scott thinking he would.

Scott nods and points to his boss, "Well, you did this."

Derek rolls his eyes and shakes his head, "Do you have a plan?" he asks changing the subject without explaining what had happened to Lexi.

"Just give me an hour," Scott says cryptically and Derek asks him to elaborate, "Meet me at the school. In the parking lot," Scott explains. Derek sighs frustratingly and he picks Lexi back up off the table and goes to take her out to his car. He had no idea what Scott's plan was going to be, but whatever it was, Lexi was going to come with them.

…

I open my eyes slowly and lift my head up from my shoulder looking around. I straighten up in my seat and immediately recognise that I wasn't at the clinic anymore but in some car.

"Hey, it's okay." I hear Derek's voice say softly and I jump slightly looking to my left to see that he's in the driver's seat.

I slump back down in the seat and close my eyes in relief, "Derek, I almost had a heart attack. I thought I'd been kidnapped."

Derek chuckles slightly and shakes his head at me, "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"I feel okay," I say with a small shrug and I look down at my bandaged stomach. I lift it up and raise my eyebrows surprised at how much better my wound already looked, "Deaton had to treat me with the wolfsbane bullet like he said."

I see Derek's jaw clench slightly and his hands tighten around the steering wheel. I catch something in the corner of my eye and turn my head to look in the back seat and I gasp, "Derek! What the hell?!" Deaton was knocked out, tied up and had duct tape across his mouth.

"He knows something about the alpha or he is the alpha," Derek explains as we turn onto the road that leads to the school

I shake my head in disbelief, "That's insane. Why would you think that?"

"He's hiding something," Derek shrugs as if that was all the explanation I needed and I roll my eyes slightly.

We pull into the parking lot at the school and I screw my face up in confusion seeing Scott and Stiles waiting for us, "Okay, what the hell is going on? What happened while I was passed out?"

Derek ignores my questions and climbs out of the car. I quickly follow and Scott looks to us both seeming annoyed, "Where's my boss?" he asks immediately.

"He's in the back," Derek says casually and he walks around to my side stepping up beside me.

Scott and Stiles look into the backseat and Stiles scoffs slightly, "Oh, he looks comfortable…"

"Wait. Hey! What are you doing?" Derek calls out as the two boys start making their way towards the entrance to the school.

Scott shrugs slightly, "You said I was linked with the alpha," they turn back around and continue walking towards the school, "I'm gonna see if you're right."

Derek scoffs and shakes his head as he leans against his car. I turn around and cross my arms over my chest looking at him expectantly. He looks at me with a confused look, "What?"

"Don't 'what' me!" I exclaim and start pacing slightly in front of him, "You need to explain to me what the hell is going on? I mean I passed out at Deaton's clinic and then woke up in your car Derek! With Deaton tied up in the back!"

He turns away from me and shakes his head slightly. I see him clench his jaw slightly and I can tell he's holding his tongue trying to keep his mouth shut. I roll my eyes at him and reach into my pockets looking for my phone.

"I text your Dad and said you'd be out again tonight," Derek speaks up and holds my phone up in his hand. He had some nerve. Maybe I was a little angry at him for being able to stay away from me so easily but I didn't really have any right to because I was the one that suggested it. I was also angry that he seemed to be angry back at me. And he wouldn't tell me what the hell was going on right now.

I scoff slightly and walk forward going to grab my phone from his hand but he quickly grips hold of my wrist and spins us around so that I'm pressed between him and the car. My heartbeat quickens and I watch nervously as Derek's eyes flick between my eyes and lips. His gaze finally settles on my eyes and my breath hitches as he reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ear, "Do you have any idea how hard it was finding you in that clinic passed out like that?" I shake my head slightly, afraid of the reliability of my voice right now.

Derek starts leaning in closer and his eyes are completely focused on my lips now. His forehead touches mine and he pauses, "I need you to tell me to stop right now if this isn't what you want," he warns me softly and my entire body shivers in anticipation as I don't speak up. I didn't want him to stop. I wanted him to kiss me.

As if hearing my thoughts, Derek's lips crash against mine hard and his arms wrap around my small frame. I quickly wrap my arms around his neck to somehow pull him closer to me. Our lips mould together passionately as his hands start to drop down to my waist and he lifts me up onto the hood of his car. My legs part and he steps in closer pressing his body into mine further. I let out a small moan and my mouth parts slightly allowing his tongue to explore mine. I feel his chest vibrate slightly as a small growl erupts from the back of his throat when my hands around his neck tug on his hair slightly.

Just as I pull back from the kiss and Derek moves to start kissing down my neck, there's a loud shrill howl erupts through the speakers of the school and Derek and I freeze listening to it. Derek lifts his head up from my neck and leans his forehead back against mine, closing his eyes frustratingly, "You've got to be kidding me."

I can't help the laugh that escapes me as Derek shakes his head and he slowly steps away from me trying not to smile at me, "This isn't funny," he says trying to give me a serious look and I continue to laugh, "I'm serious."

"I know," I say with a smile as I slide off the hood of his car and pull my shirt down that had slightly ridden up from our kiss.

He shakes his head and chuckles slightly at me as he reaches for my hand and tugs me forward slightly. I step closer to him and go to lean in for another kiss but another howl comes through the speaker system again and this one is legit. The entire school seems to shake as Scott's howl fills the air for what would probably be a good couple of miles.

Derek's jaw clenches and this time he is angry as he shakes his head at the young teen wolf that has just announced our presence to everyone within hearing distance of the school. I step back from Derek and lean back against his car as we wait for the two boys to return.

When Scott and Stiles come out, Derek turns his attention to them and angrily says, "I'm gonna kill both of you! What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"

"Sorry," Scott shrugs slightly looking almost proud of himself, "I didn't know it would be that loud."

Stiles smiles widely and pipes in, "Yeah it was loud. And it was awesome!"

"Shut up," Derek says suddenly and he looks around as if he's heard something. I walk forward slightly to step up beside him and his hand reaches down grabbing hold of mine tightly.

"Don't be such a sour wolf," Stiles teases as Scott taps his best friend to get his attention, "What'd you do with him?" Scott asks as he looks at Derek's car where we had Deaton in the backseat.

Derek turns around quickly to look in his car and Deaton is somehow missing, "I didn't do anything?" Derek says looking to me confused before his eyes widen and he shoves me out of the way. I fall backwards and hold my arms out behind me to break my fall.

My eyes widen and I scream as the alpha picks up Derek and blood starts pouring out his mouth. The alpha tosses him into the school wall and growls loudly looking down at me. I feel Scott and Stiles grab a hold of me and pull me up off the ground, dragging me into the school.

The two boys shut the doors behind us and I sit leaning against the wall with my arms wrapped around my knees as I start to cry silently. My heart actually ached in my chest and it felt as though my lungs were burning with every breath I took in. The alpha killed him. The alpha had killed Derek.

…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Night School:**

…

"Lexi!" Scott says as him and Stiles grab a hold of me again and start dragging me through the school. I hadn't said anything since the alpha had showed up outside. I couldn't even tell you what Stiles and Scott had been saying while we had been sitting in the hallway at the school entrance all this time. I just felt numb.

Scott and Stiles drag me into a classroom and let go of me, leaving me to slump into a heap on the ground again. They try and drag a desk to block the door.

"The door's not gonna keep it out," I say quietly and they both stop in their tracks and turn their attention to me.

Scott nods, "I know."

"It's your boss," Stiles guesses as he turns his attention back to Scott, "Deaton, the alpha? Your boss!"

Scott shakes his head quickly, "No!"

"Yes," Stiles counters back just as quickly, "Yes, murdering psycho werewolf!" I had to agree with Stiles on this one. Although, I don't know how my family had gone so long utilising Deaton's clinic and his knowledge without us finding out that he was a werewolf.

Scott continues to deny and refuse to believe it, "That can't be."

"Oh, come on," Stiles scoffs, "He disappears and that thing shows up 10 seconds later to toss Derek 20 feet through the air? That's not convenient timing?"

I let out a small whimper and cover my ears slightly when Stiles mentions his name. I bring my knees up to my chest and sit there slightly rocking. I still couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. And I couldn't see us making it through this night alive if the alpha just got rid of Derek so easily.

"It's not him," Scott insists as his gaze flicks over to me on the ground.

Stiles shakes his head, "He killed Derek."

I let out another whimper and Scott shakes his head as well, "No, Derek's not dead. He can't be dead!"

"Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay?" Stiles continues to talk despite my shaking form on the ground, "That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury! He's dead and we're next!"

Scott finally caves and he finally moves from the desk they were going to use and reaches down pulling me up off the ground. He gives Stiles a look and motions to me and I can only assume that he's trying to tell Stiles to be a little more sensitive around me. Scott moves me to lean against the desk and he sighs, "Okay, what do we do?"

I meet Scott's gaze and see he's looking at me expectantly. I then look to Stiles and see he's doing the same thing. I take a shaky deep breath in and wipe the tears that had almost dried from my cheeks, "Um, we get to Stiles jeep, we get out of here…"

"And you seriously think about quitting your job," Stiles adds and we all nod and move to the classroom windows.

Scott tries to open them as I look out into the parking lot to where Stiles' and Derek's cars were. Stiles tells Scott that the windows don't open and Scott suggests breaking them.

"Which will make a lot of noise," I say rolling my eyes. Seriously, out of all the people to be trapped in the school with the alpha after us, it had to be these too.

Scott shrugs as he looks out at how far away the cars were from us, "Then we run really fast."

I turn and look at the two boys with an incredulous look and Scott sighs out worriedly, "Really fast." Scott's face contorts in confusion as he notices something outside in the parking lot, "Stiles, what's wrong with the hood of your jeep?"

I turn back around and screw my face up in confusion slightly as I see it too. The front of Stiles' jeep was bent.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong," Stiles says shaking his head.

Scott nods and points to the jeep, "It's bent."

"Like dented?" Stiles asks and he jumps forward trying to get a good look as well. Stiles and Scott continue to fuss over what is wrong with the jeep when the window beside us is smashed in. the glass rains down on us and I feel Scott try to shield me slightly as we all duck down below the classroom windows.

We look in front of us at the thing that smashed in the window and Stiles goes to get up sounding slightly angry, "That's my battery!"

Scott quickly grabs hold of him and pulls him back down, "Don't move."

I shake my head and agree with Stiles, "We have to move, Scott."

"He could be right outside," Scott whispers as he shakes his head.

Stiles rolls his eyes slightly, "He is right outside!"

Scott pauses for a moment before he says, "Just let me take a look," he slowly pokes his head up over the window ledge. Stiles asks if he sees anything and Scott shakes his head responding no.

"Move now?" Stiles asks and Scott nods, "Move now."

We all get up and head back out into the hallway. Scott and Stiles grab my arm as I go to walk down the opposite way to them and they look at me expectantly again. I didn't blame them for thinking I would know what to do. Usually, I'd be taking control and the confident one in this situation. But, I honestly couldn't think about anything other than Derek dying. I just kept picturing it happen, over and over again.

"We need to go somewhere with no windows," I finally suggest with a small shrug. I reach into my pocket to find my phone but realise I had never gotten it back from Derek. For a second, I thought about calling my Dad but that wouldn't even be possible now.

"Every single room in this building has windows," Scott exclaims quietly as he looks at me with a scared look.

I bite my tongue slightly to stop myself from yelling at the boy, "Well, somewhere with less windows then."

Stiles and Scott think for a second before Scott suggests, "The locker room." Stiles nods and we start rushing in the direction of the locker rooms.

When we reach them, Scott turns to Stiles, "Call your Dad."

"And tell him what?" Stiles asks in disbelief.

I shrug thinking it wasn't such a bad idea, "Gas leak, fire, whatever's going to get the police here."

"If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars, it'll take off!" Scott nods trying to convince his friend.

Stiles shakes his head at the both of us, "What if it doesn't? What if it goes completely Terminator and kills every cop in sight, including my Dad?"

"They have guns," Scott shrugs slightly, still thinking it was worth a try.

Stiles nods and lets out a humourless chuckle, "Yeah and Derek had to be shot with a wolfsbane laced bullet to even slow him down, you remember that?" Stiles then turns to me with wide eyes and an idea, "Call your Dad."

"Trust me," I say shaking my head and letting out a sigh, "We don't want that. That is going to invite more questions and lead to more issues for us in the long run."

Scott sighs shaking his head trying to come up with something else, "Then we have to just get out of here and run for it."

"There's nothing near the school for at least a mile," Stiles shuts down that idea but Scott's face lights up as he thinks of something else, "What about Derek's car?"

Stiles pauses, "That could work!" he nods, "We go outside, we get the keys off his body, ugh and then we take his car."

My chest is hit with another wave of pain and I quickly add, "And him."

"Fine. Whatever," Stiles sighs out and he turns around heading for the locker room exit. Stiles reaches for the door but Scott grabs his hand and stops him.

I look to Scott expectantly and he looks as though he's listening for something, "I think I heard something?" We start shuffling backwards into the room and Scott instructs us to hide. Stiles immediately opens up one of the lockers and gets in while making a whole lot of noise.

Scott scolds his best friend at the amount of noise and for leaving us out here but he quickly grabs me and follows suit. He opens up one of the lockers and shoves me in before doing the same in the one next to me. I close my eyes and put my hand over my mouth to quiet my breathing. I hear the locker room door creak open and my stomach starts to sink as I think that we were done for. My eyes shoot open suddenly when I hear Scott's locker door open beside mine and a man screams. Stiles and Scott start trying to quiet the man and I quickly open my locker and climb out as well.

"Quiet my ass, what the hell are you trying to do, kill me?" the janitor exclaims very loudly as he tries to calm himself after being given what you would think was the fright of his life, "All of you get out," he instructs while he grabs a hold of my arm and tries to usher us towards the door.

"Buddy, just listen for half a second, okay!" Stiles tried to reason with the guy before the alpha was on top of us and we had another person to worry about tonight.

The janitor shakes his head and continues pushing us to the door, "Not okay. Get the hell out of here right now." We're shoved out the door and back into the hallway and the janitor tells us to shut up and go when he's pulled back into the room with a loud growl and thrown up against the door.

We all jump back slightly and watch as blood is smeared on the frosted glass on the door from the janitor being ripped to shreds and thrown around in there. Scott tries to get the door open to save him but Stiles grabs his friend and pushes us down the hallway and we're running through the school again.

With Stiles and Scott following behind me slightly, I rush forward when we reach an exit and push into the door but it doesn't budge and instead I bounce back off the door and land on my ass again. I watch as Scott and Stiles push into together and they both can't get the door open.

"What the hell?" Stiles questions trying to push against it again. Scott pokes his head through the small gap they had made, "It's a dumpster?

"He pushed it in front of the door to block us in," Stiles realises and he shoves the door again making a whole heap of noise, "Come on, help me!" he grunts out but Scott quickly grabs his friend and pulls him away from the door and they start heading back down the hall.

I slowly lift myself up off the ground and stare at the exit in front of me. We were so close. I hear Scott and Stiles voice get further away and I turn around to follow after them. Stiles is whining about dying at the school and they start discussing what exactly it is the alpha wants. I stop in my tracks when I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye, "Guys…" I call out.

Scott and Stiles stop and turn back seeing I was quite a few steps behind them. I point out the window and the look out and across at the rooftop to what I had spotted. The alpha was standing there watching us. Scott and Stiles turn back around and start running back in my direction just as the alpha makes it moves and run across the rooftop before crashing in through the window. I wait for Scott and Stiles to reach me again before I start running behind them. They go to run straight down the hallway but I quickly grab the back of their shirts and turn them to the right so they could go downstairs to the boiler room.

Instead of following them, I quickly run down the hallway and try to lead the alpha after me but after a few moments of running alone I can hear the alpha's growls get further from me and I know it's gone after Scott and Stiles. I slow down and stop leaning against the lockers to catch my breath. I don't know why I thought it would come after me instead, I knew it was only after Scott. It wanted a pack, like Derek had said.

I slowly slide down the lockers and sit down on the floor bringing my knees up to my chest again. I was not okay. Whatever was happening between Derek and I was bigger than what I had initially thought and now I was literally a broken mess. I couldn't even protect Scott and Stiles.

I don't know how long I'd been sitting down for but I'm immediately put on edge when I hear low growling close by. I turn my head looking down either end of the hallway and I see the alpha down one end staring directly at me. I scramble to get up off the ground and I run in the opposite direction seeing the front door we had come in to escape the alpha outside was wide open. I turn around and see the alpha was still coming after me and I push myself harder trying to make it to the door. I run through it and quickly swing my arm out flinging it shut behind me and I stumble down the steps and hit the ground hard. I let out a small groan as I hit my stomach on one of the steps and I continue to roll down until I head the flat sidewalk.

I slowly sit myself up with a painful groan and look up to see the alpha hadn't followed me outside. I look down at my stomach and lift my shirt revealing a freshly bloodied bandage. I roll my eyes. Of course I reopened my stitches. I look around at Stiles jeep and then do a double take when I realise Derek's car is gone. My eyes widen and I scramble up off the ground and walk over to wear Derek was tossed and see there is no body there anymore.

My hand comes up to my mouth and I let out a shaky breath as I realise that he must still be alive. I turn around slowly and feel my spirits lifting slightly but that moment is very short-lived when I spot Jackson's Porsche parked out on the curb. I roll my eyes and look back at the school. If Jackson was here then I put money on Lydia being with him as well. I shake my head as I make my way back up the steps and into the school again. If Derek managed to pick himself up and walk away from that attack then I should be able to keep a few teenagers alive long enough for someone to come help us. Or until the sun came up. Whichever came first.

…

Scott let's out a sigh as Allison questions again who was trying to kill them. He couldn't tell them the truth. They wouldn't believe him. And Lexi would kill him if his sister found out what was really happening. That's if she was still alive. He lets out another shaky breath as he runs his hand through his hair and thinks about his options.

"Who is it?" Allison questions again. Scott could hear how scared she was and he hated that she'd now been dragged into this. He didn't even have his phone, he couldn't understand how Allison had received a text from him. The alpha lured her here though and now there were three more people involved.

Scott shakes his head already regretting what he was about to do, "Derek. It's Derek Hale."

Stiles shakes his head incredulously as his friend literally throws Derek under the bus, "Derek killed the janitor?" Jackson questions shaking his head like he didn't believe what Scott was saying.

"Are you sure?" Allison asks shakily. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Scott nods, "I saw him."

"The mountain lion…" Lydia tries to say but Scott quickly cuts her off raising his voice in frustration, "No, Derek killed them."

Allison mouth drops open and her eyes are glassy with tears, "All of them?"

"Yeah, starting with his own sister," Scott explains.

Allison's voice becomes shaky as she tries to wrap her head around this, "And the bus driver?"

"And the guy in the video store!" Scott exclaims, "He almost killed your sister and she's here in the school too. We got separated earlier. Derek's in here with us though."

Stiles' eyes widen as he watches the train wreck unfold in front of him. If Derek was alive, he was going to kill them both for naming him the killer. And Lexi would come after them too. Stiles looks over to Allison and sees her shakily pull out her phone and most likely try to call her sister. She lets out a small sob when she doesn't get through, "She's not answering her phone."

"I've seen Lexi with Derek before," Jackson pipes up and makes an even bigger mess for them, "He's not stalking her is he?"

Scott shakes his head, "I don't know! All I know is if we don't get out now, he's going to kill us too…"

…

I walk through the school quietly and I shake my head silently in frustration. Seriously, how hard was it to find possibly four teenagers. Scott and Stiles had been so loud when I was with them, I thought it would be easy. My prayers are suddenly answered when I hear some crashing and growling below. I rush towards the stairwell that leads to a door for the kitchen. If I was right about the school layout then the cafeteria was below me right now and that's where they would be. I reach the door leading into the kitchen of the cafeteria but stop when I hear Allison's voice.

My eyes widen and freeze up. Allison was here. She was right in the middle of this and if I let them know I was here then she'd have so many questions. Questions I'd have to lie to and I knew she could read me like a book. She'd know I was lying. It was a whole lot different not telling her something about our family and openly lying to her face when she asks what the hell is going on. I let out a frustrated sigh and quickly duck beneath the stairs that lead up to the next floor. Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Jackson and Allison burst through the doors and run up the flight of stairs. I then watch as the alpha bursts through the door and follows them.

I quietly come out of my hiding place and then make my way up the stairs as well. I'd keep a safe distance to make sure they were safe and if anything was going to happen, then I'd reveal myself. I then roll my eyes and think that Scott and Stiles probably already spilled that I was here somewhere.

I reach the top floor and poke my head around, watching as the alpha stalks down the hallway past all the classrooms and then disappears. I walk out into the hallway and listen carefully when the sound of muffled voices comes from the classroom I'm passing. I look in at the frosted glass and see shadows moving inside. I step backwards and lean against the door of the classroom across the hall from the one they were in and just wait. There's no way the alpha didn't realise they were in there. He'd be back and I'd be ready.

I can't make out what they were saying in there but I did recognise who was talking when they spoke. After a while, the door to the classroom starts opening and my eyes widen as Scott comes out through the door. He looks to me with wide eyes and I hold my finger up to my mouth signalling for him to be quiet. He shuts the door behind him quickly and he nods his head down the hall for me to follow him.

I look back to the classroom before deciding to go with him. The alpha was after Scott. If Scott was out here with me then so was the alpha and nothing would happen to the others. When we make it far enough away from the classroom Scott starts whispering, "What the hell were you doing?"

"Keeping watch," I shrug slightly as he continues to lead the way, "Why the hell is my sister here?"

Scott lets out a worried sigh and shakes his head, "The alpha sent her a text from me telling her to meet me at the school."

I groan quietly and chuckle humourlessly, "Yeah and this is why I was hoping you'd stay away from her."

Scott looks to me almost guiltily and I sigh, "Derek's alive," I whisper, moving the subject to something a little lighter.

"What?" Scott gasps turning to me and stopping us in the hall.

I nod, "Yeah. His car is gone and so's his body. He's obviously taken off to heal but we know he's gotta be alive."

Scott looks down at the ground sheepishly and I groan, "What? What's that look for?"

"I kinda told them that Derek's the killer," Scott whispers out avoiding eye contact with me, "And Jackson has seen you with him before so now they think that Derek's after you and we're all here because we're your friends."

My mouth hangs open as I stare back at Scott in disbelief. I could not even comprehend what was going through Scott's mind when he decided to drop that bombshell on everyone. I shake my head angrily and go to start walking again but I change my mind and turn back to Scott slapping him on the back of the head.

He winces in pain and rubs his head, "Ow!" he whispers looking at me surprised.

"I want to do a whole lot more than slap you right now, Scott McCall," I whisper pointing my finger at him, "If we make it out of here alive tonight, you have just made all of our lives a thousand times more difficult. What do you think my parents are going to do when eventually the police show up here and everyone tells them that Derek is the killer and he's after me, huh?"

Scott drops his head guiltily and he lets out a sigh, "I know. I know. I wasn't thinking. They just kept asking me who it was and what was happening. I panicked."

I shake my head and signal for him to start walking again. He slowly starts moving and continues to lead us to whatever he was looking for. We walk into the school's gymnasium and I finally ask what it is we're looking for.

"The janitor's keys," Scott whispers out as he goes to duck under the bleachers.

I quickly grab his arm and look at him with raised eyebrows, "Um, what? Why?"

"If I can get the janitor's keys we can unlock the door in the classroom the leads to the roof and take the fire escape down to Jackson's car," Scott explains and he pulls out of my grip gently and continues to make his way under the bleachers.

I watch as he finds the janitor strung up underneath the bleachers and he climbs up using the structure to reach the keys. I jump slightly when the bleachers start mechanically retracting back into the wall and I yell out for Scott, "Scott! Just leave the keys!" He ignores my instructions and at the last minute manages to grab the keys from the body. Scott runs through to the other side of the bleachers and dives out just before it crushes him into the wall.

I shake my head slightly at the young boy's stubbornness when Scott holds the keys up in the air to show me he had them. Low growling fills my ears again and Scott and I both turn our attention into the middle of the gym. The alpha had found us. I mean, I was glad I was right about the alpha coming after us and leaving the others alone in the classroom but I was concerned how we would get out of this one.

The alpha starts stalking towards Scott and watch as the teen doesn't move to run but waits for the alpha to get closer before throwing whatever substance he had in the glass jar he'd been carrying around. The glass smashes over the alpha's body and I screw my face up in confusion of what was supposed to happen. The alpha runs forward and grabs Scott's ankles before sliding him into the middle of the gym.

I run out towards the two and try to jump onto the alpha's back from behind but he turns around and catches me. His clawed paw wraps around my neck and he leans back down to Scott before letting out a loud howl. I squeeze my eyes shut and feel my ears almost burst in pain from the sound. When I open my eyes again, the alpha still has hold of me but we're hidden from sight as Scott begins to writhe in pain on the ground and fight against the alpha's howl for control. He loses the battle and I watch helplessly as Scott slowly gets up and leaves the gym.

I squirm against the alpha's hold as he starts dragging me out of the gym by my arm. This was a completely different demeanour I was seeing from the alpha yet again. It almost felt as though they didn't want to hurt me this time. I kick my legs out and try and pry my arm from his grip but he just tightens his hold and shoves me into the lockers when we reach the hallway, "Stop fighting. I will hurt you if I have to," the alpha growls out and my eyes widen hearing it speak for the first time.

I swear I almost see a smirk appear on his face but I shake my head and start fighting against his hold again, "Go on, then. Hurt me. I know you must hate that I'm an Argent."

He growls lowly and his face comes in close as his fist punches the locker beside me. I flinch slightly and the alpha's growl turns into a small throaty chuckle, "No. You're very special to someone I care about. My fight isn't with you."

I screw my face up in confusion but before I can think anything more about what the alpha just said he pulls my head forward before smashing it into the locker and knocking me out.

…

When I came to, there was a deputy leaning over me trying to wake me up by shining a torch directly in my face. It turns out Stiles' had tried calling his Dad and he'd finally gotten the message and sent the cavalry in. Scott had actually managed to control himself but him and Stiles were still moping slightly about the whole ordeal and I didn't blame them. The alpha came so close to getting Scott to do what he wanted and it wasn't even a full moon. We had a full moon in just under a week and the alpha would try again to get Scott to kill his friends. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to control himself again if it came down to it.

"Lexi!" I hear my sister call out as she spots me over by the deputies car. He'd been asking me questions about Derek Hale for the past ten minutes and still wasn't happy with my answers.

I turn my head and I see her running towards me. I quickly stand up and she slams herself into me and holding onto me tightly. I feel her shake slightly as she begins to sob quietly into my shoulder. I tighten my arms around her and I look over her shoulder and see Scott watching her with a sad expression.

Allison pulls back slightly and looks at me with tear soaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes, "Were you alone in there the whole time? Are you okay?" she sobs out as she starts trying to wipe her cheeks but the tears keep rolling out.

"I'm okay," I say softly tucking her hair behind her ears and wiping her cheeks for her as well, "I'm safe. Nothing happened."

She nods quietly and I see her eyes flick over in Scott's direction before she speaks again, "Why is Derek Hale after you?"

I roll my eyes slightly and shake my head, "He isn't. I didn't see anyone after me tonight. I don't know what was going on. I just thought it'd be fun to break into the school at night."

"Jackson said he's seen you two together before," Allison whispers out, careful not to let any of the deputies around us hear, "Do you know him? He gave us that ride home at the party weeks ago and you stayed in his car."

I let out a sigh and run my hands through my hair, "Look, all I can tell you is that I do know him. And I know he wouldn't do any of this. Do you trust me?" I ask gripping Allison by her arms lightly.

She nods, "Of course."

"Then trust me when I say that it was not Derek Hale terrorizing us tonight," I whisper out just before the Sheriff comes over to join us.

Sheriff Stilinski gives me a small apologetic smile, "Sorry, kid. I know you're probably sick of the questions but it's just gotta be done. Your Dad is here to pick you two up though, so if we have any more questions to ask, we'll be in contact."

I nod and return the smile, "No worries, Sheriff."

Allison links her arm through mine as we make our way to our Dad's car when she finally whispers out, "I broke up with Scott." I turn to look at her and her face says it all. She's heartbroken. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and her head tilts down to rest on mine as our Dad rushes out of the car to greet us. He hugs us both tightly and when he pulls back from my hug I can see exactly what he is thinking written all over his face. My night was not over by a longshot.


End file.
